FREDMIONE
Hermione was ecstatic. She was just named Gryfindor house Prefect with Ron. Although she knew Harry wasn't too pleased by this, she still wasn't going to let anyone spoil her day - particularly the Twins. They had bin a bit harsh on Ron earlier, but she knew..or hoped rather, that they were just joking. That night for dinner Mrs. Weasley had put together a sort-of party. Fred had caught Hermione's eye from across the room and beckoned for her to come over. Intrigued, she obeyed.
"So little 'Mione's a Prefect, eh?" His words carried a mocking edge, though it was light hearted enough. His eyes flickered over her body subtly and quickly before landing back on her own eyes, bright and brown and somewhat piercing.
She laughed nervously. "I suppose so!"
"And how do you feel about that? Ecstatic, I'm guessing, another chance to hang around with Ronnie."
She blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about" she muttered, not meeting his eye
He smirked, a sly smile that slipped across his lips and made his eyes that bit brighter. "I think we ALL know, 'Mione. You're rather obvious with your feelings, aren't you?"
She nearly blanched. "Am I?" she was shocked. She looked over to Ron who was talking to Bill. "He...he doesn't know...does he?"
He chuckled softly, "Ron's an absolute dunce, he wouldn't know it if you yelled it in his face. Can't see what you see in him, really. Much better guys around."She shook her head. She was not going to have this conversation with his BROTHER, for heaven's sake. Again, a soft peal of laughter. "Poor 'Mione. He loves you really, don't worry."
She shook her head yet again. "Enough" she laughed, trying to seem casual
"Nah, I'm enjoying embarassing you. Tell me why you like him won't you? I mean, it's a mystery." He leaned slightly against the wall, looking at her through dark lashes.
"I...I don't know what it is." she said, barely audibly. "But I know that I'm not going to discuss it with YOU." her voice significantly stronger.
"Oh yeah?" He pushed off from the wall slightly, taking a step closer to her. At over 6 foot, he towered over her, though not in an intimidating way. "Why's that? I'll try not to get jealous, 'Mione, I promise." He teased her lightly.
He stared at him, gaping. "You're his brother for heaven's sake!"
"And?"
"And...tell me it's not a little strange..."
"It's not a little strange."
"A lot strange then?" she grinned.
"Nah, just curious."
She stared at him blankly. "I dont know what it is..." she said softly
"Fair enough, fair enough. I mean, if it was the gingerness and the freckles, I'd understand. But then again, there are better Weasleys to choose from." He smirked again.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh ha ha..."
"I'm not joking."
"Like who?" she spat, perhaps more offensively than needed. "You?"
"Maybe. No need to be defensive, 'Mione."
"I'm not being-" she started, but saw he was still grinning. She shook her head and looked down
"Aw, did I offend? I'm sorry, is little Granger hurt?" He crooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. She was frowning, but he knew it was more out of frustration and annoyance than her actually being upset "Anything I can do to make you smile again, eh?"
She smiled, there was the Fred she knew and loved...well, loved more than when he was annoying her. "Just knowing I have the power to give you detention in the future makes me smile." she grinned He feigned offense, letting his hand drop to his side. "Damn, didn't think of it like that." She grinned. She finally had the upper-hand
"But you wouldn't do that to me, would you? You love me too much."
She scoffed. "Only if you deserve it!" she laughed
"Can I earn it? Your love, that is. So I can guarantee that I'm safe."
"Loved or not, youre still getting detention if you're breaking the rules!"
"But... But..."
"But nothing."
He pouted, jutting out his lower lip slightly and giving her a wide eyed, puppy dog eyes look. "Oh come on..." she said, giving him a look to imply 'you're better than that…' He sniffed sadly, looking even more sad and lost. "Fred!"
He immediately grinned. "Come on, Hermione, isn't it a little early to be screaming my name? I mean, maybe later..."
She scoffed even louder than she did before. "Will you stop?" she scolded through gritted teeth. She quickly glanced at Ron but he was oblivious as ever. Unfortunately, Fred saw her look.
"Nope, innuendos are my speciality. I'll corrupt you, one day." His smile slipped very slightly when he saw her glance at Ron, but he recovered quickly.
She looked at him and smirked. "You wish." She knew he noticed her looking, she wondered if he was going to embarress her and bring it up
He put a hand to his heart. "I wish and I dream, love."
She breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't. "Keep dreaming then" she grinned Her eyes widened slightly, was she flirting with Fred? And...was she enjoying it?
"Oh, you know it." He grinned, winking at her. Quick! Was she supposed to wink back? She looked at Ron, as if expecting him to magically help her. She looked back at Fred, unsure what to say next… "N'aw, I left you speechless. I knew I would, at some stage."
Hermione blinked sharply as if he had just slapped her. "Did not!" she retorted
"Did too."
"I'm not being very silent at the moment, am I?" she smirked
"I can shut you up, if you really want me to. I have my ways..." He took a tiny but obvious step towards her, smirking.
She took a step back without realizing what she was doing. "And what would those be?" she barely whispered it. He could sense she was uncomfortable
"Are you asking for a demonstration?"
"Erm..."
"I don't hear a no." He wanted to shake her head, but she couldn't move. She glanced at Ron again. "Hmm, you confuse me sometimes..." He was standing in front of her, now, blocking her view of Ron.
"Why's that?" she made direct eye contact with him now
"You haven't denied me yet." He leaned towards her, his words soft, barely inches from her face.
"I'm...denying you now." she whispered
"No you're not."
"Yes. I am."
He smiled slowly, the edges of his eyes crinkling slightly. "Don't lie to me, 'Mione, I can read you like a book. You wear your emotions on your sleeve, remember?"
"Fred..." she beckoned him, pulling him to a side. "I can't do this. Not now. Not when..." she looked at Ron over Fred's shoulder. There was no denying it, he definitely could not pretend like he ignored this look. She met his eyes, waiting for him to say something...
"You asked me how I'd shut you up. I have to answer." Before she could pull away, he dropped a chaste kiss to her lips, quick and light and barely there. And then he slipped into the crowd of other people, disappearing with a smug smirk. She was awestruck, yet completely repulsed, and furious.
The next day, Fred woke earlier than usual, finding that he couldn't quite get back to bed. He sighed, irritated at his lack of fatigue, before slinking downstairs. With a glance in the mirror at the foot of the stairs, he took in his appearance - mussed up red hair, bare chest, tartan pyjama trousers... He was about to turn away and go make a mug of strong tea for himself when a figure appeared behind him in the mirror and he jumped slightly, startled. Hermione had left reached the landing outside Ginny's room where she was staying. She didn't see Fred and simply made her way downstairs, her face covered by a book.
"Merlin, 'Mione, you gave me a start." He said suddenly, coming up behind her and nicking her book, jogging into the kitchen.
She chased him down there. "Give it back!" she said forgetting that she had decided not to talk to him
"Nah." He said with a laugh, chucking it onto a chair and putting on the kettle. "Tea, Granger?" She nodded once. Reached for her book and buried her face right back in it. He made two mugs of it quickly, handing one to her and perching himself on the arm of her chair, sipping his drink quietly. She made it a point to not thank him, or even look up from her reading. "It's rude to ignore people." He said pointedly.
She looked at him swiftly once. "Thank you." she said and went back to her book.
"You never used to be like this with me. Come on, what's changed?"
She looked at him again. "Guess."
"What, the fact that I kissed you? That was nothing, it was just a teeny little kiss. I was just messing around."
"It wasn't funny" she let out through gritted teeth, not bothering to look up from her book
"Well you didn't seem to mind. If you did, you'd've slapped me. C'mon, you know you didn't REALLY mind."
She slammed her book down. "You walked away much too fast for me to slap you..." she started
"But?"
"But nothing."
"There's always a 'but'."
"Not this time." she picked up her book again
"What would you do if I kissed you again? Not like before, I mean PROPERLY kissed you... What would you do?" He asked, curious.
"Slap you."
"Yeah? Why?"
Just then Ron came down the stairs. That shut Fred up. "Morning." He yawned sleepily and started to butter his toast. Fred looked at Ron, and then Hermione who was reading his book right next to him. He threw a dark glance at his brother, before putting down his mug of tea and walking over to him.
"Morning, little bro." He said brightly. Ron nodded sleepily to his brother. "So, Prefect Ronnie. Does this mean that you're strict now? Not that you were much fun before, mind." He smirked slightly. Ron scowled, as did Hermione. "Gonna answer me, Prefect? It's rude to keep family waiting."
"Piss off, Fred." Ron scowled, grabbed his toast and left the room.
"Rude." He called after him, rolling his eyes. "And overly sensitive." He added under his breath,
"Have you ever thought," he heard Hermione calling out behind him "that you're just INsensitive?"
"Oh shut up, Granger." He snapped, suddenly pissed off. She ignored him, and went back to reading. "You know, you're kind of insufferable sometimes."
"Thanks" she replied, sarcastically, once again not bothering to look up
"If you didn't want me to kiss you, you shouldn't have flirted with me."
"I wasn't... We were having a conversation."
"I was flirting with you, and you flirted right back at me. You're not an idiot, don't pretend to be one."
"I wasn't...intending to flirt"
"Of course you weren't."
"I actually wasn't..."
"Mhmm. Right." She rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for someone this stupidly stubborn..He sighed at her in an irritated fashion. If he was going to give her attitude she could do it right back at him. He stood to leave, he wanted a drink and couldn't be bothered with her attitude, he'd kissed her, not hit her.
Days passed and they had still not uttered a word to each other. She wondered if anyone else had picked up on this tension. Fred was sitting in the living room with Ron and Hermione, staring at the floor not saying anything, tension was in the air
"So..." Ron said to fill the silence Hermione, as usual, was reading. She snapped the book shut.
"So?" she snapped
"Okay Hermione I was only filling the silence" Ron muttered, he'd noticed how moody she'd been. And now she had given Ron attitude for no reason, she felt worse about herself.
"Sorry." she muttered Fred got up to leave again, he kept leaving rooms in his own home for the sake of her.
Yet even more days had passed. Normally, Hermione would have called the person aside to talk about it, but she knew she wasn't the one at fault here. He caught her alone in the corridor "Explain just why you aren't speaking to me?" Fred quizzed
"You know exactly why."
"No explain, I mean it I'm confused"
"Well, lets start with the fact that you KNEW, you KNEW I like ... " she didnt want to scream his name on the stairs. "and you still... did what you did."
Well I thought I'd put it out there, you two made it obvious… I just said what everyone was thinking"
She tried another apporach. "If that's the case, then WHY would you get in that middle of that?"
"Get in the middle of what? You two making everyone feel uncomfortable with the eyes and everything?"
This was getting ridiculous. "Fred, just admit that you shouldn't have done it.:"
"And then what happens? You gloat in my face that I was wrong, you go and tell everyone in a smug manner and still don't speak to me? What's the point?"
She was shocked. "I can't believe you think that low of me," she said slowly. "I was just going to accept your apology, keep it to myself and move on..."
"Yes keep to yourself and move on, disregarding my feelings entirely, you know what I thought you were a kind and caring person, and you proved me wrong" he sighed as his eyes filled with water and he barged past her into his bedroom
"Oh don't pretend like you have ANY feelings behind what you did" she snapped. "You said yourself, it was just a 'small kiss' or whatever." she followed him
"LEAVE ME ALONE" he shouted shakily as tears rolled down his cheeks
Now she genuinely felt bad...but for what? She had no intention for him to kiss her. So why did she feel at fault? He sat on his bed just shaking, he hadn't meant for her to learn how he felt, he learnt later that he'd been wailing so loudly Molly thought the ghoul was playing up again There was a definite tension in the house now. Everyone could feel it.
Fred confined himself to his room for days George began to worry "Hermione please talk to him" George begged
"He's made it quite clear he doesn't want to speak to me." Hermione replied, recalling thier last conversation
"Just please, not for him, for me, I'm worried about Freddie and he won't talk to me" She looked at George. It almost hurt to look at him, since obviously she was reminded of Fred. She swallowed, but slowly she nodded.
A few hours later, she knocked on Fred's door. Fred opened the door "Oh what do you want now, to tell me that I'll never compare to Ron and that I'm wasting my time, yeah I figured that on my own"
"Stop making assumptions" she growled. but changed her tone. "Fred," she started, sitting on George's bed. "Let's talk about this."
"Talk about what?" He said his voice full of sorrow as his lower lip trembled
She wanted to yell "Don't cry!" but she didn't think that would help matters. Instead, she took his hand. "Fred..."
All he could do was nod at her as he had welled into another bout of tears "I-I'm Still listening" he choked through his tears
"I dont know what you want from me" she whispered
"I don't, I don't want you to hurt me" he whispered
That still doesn't answer my question...she thought. She nodded once. "So, what DO you want?"
"I don't know" even though he did, he wanted her to love him, he guessed it would sound ridiculous out loud
She frowned. "Well, I guess I can't blame you for not knowing..."
He nodded, "thank you for speaking to me"
She was a little surprised. "Is...that it?"
"I guess, unless there is a spell you know to erase memory there isn't much else to be done" he shrugged
"There is actually..." He raised his eyebrows. "It wont do much good." she added quickly
"How come? I hope you never have to watch the person you love love someone else"
She closed her eyes and nodded. She never realized how hard this must be for him. His own brother... "How long have you...?"
"A long time, since you were in second year"
"Oh.."
"Yeah, as I said, a long time"
"That's as long as I've-" she cut herself off. He didn't need to know that
"You've? Ron?" he guessed. She nodded grimly. "I see" he found the courage to smile at her "he deserves you"
She shook her head. "You're right." she admitted. "He has no idea"
"Really?" She nodded. "Tell him" he said firmly
"That's not fair to you..."
"Life never is fair really" he smiled "Hermione I'd love to sit here with some big romantic gesture and have flowers and fairy dust and mini fireworks but I don't, all I can say is that I do love you and I want you to be happy, go be happy" She now had tears in her eyes. "I didn't mean to make you cry" he said, startled, he hugged her. She hugged him back, and buried her face in his shoulder. He held her tighter, "why are you crying?" he asked tenderly
"I dunno... I dont like seeing you like this"
"Seeing me like what?" he laughed weakly "seeing me want you to be happy"
"Seeing you pretend to be happy for me" she whispered
"Oh right" he smiled weakly again "I do want you to be happy though"
"But?"
"But nothing." He let her go, smiling.