Disclaimer: I absolutely (and unfortunately) own nothing. Enjoy!
"Argh!" Hermione's yell of frustration pierced the rare silence of the Burrow. She heard the loud thumps of footsteps clambering down the stairs, but Hermione paid no mind as she stared pitifully at the tray of charred sickly orange blobs that were supposed to be chocolate chip cookies.
"What's wrong, Hermione? Are you okay?" Ginny's voice brought Hermione's attention up to the redheaded witch. From behind Ginny, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George tried peering over her shoulder. Seeing the worry splattered on their faces, Hermione frowned and glanced back down at the tray before dislodging the cookies from the tray with a spatula.
"My cookies," she mumbled as they all clambered in to the kitchen. "I don't know why it keeps happening. I mean, I followed the recipe exactly. It said to bake between thirteen to fifteen minutes so I baked it for fourteen. And this is- oh!" She was interrupted by the distinct chiming of her wand as the timer for the second batch- this time sugar cookies- went off. "Hold that thought." She held up her finger as she bustled around the Weasley kitchen to pull the tray out of the oven.
Luckily these cookies seemed to have fared much better than the first batch. Hermione smiled in accomplishment as she set the tray to cool before turning around to face her amused audience. She wiped her hands on her apron and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Been in a bit of a tizzy ever since I started attempting to bake. Every time I've been baking the cookies come out burnt, misshaped, unidentifiable, or just a mixture of all three."
Ron poked the blobs on the tray with a stray fork. "Merlin, 'Mione. What'd you do to it? It looks more than just burned."
"Yeah, Hermione. Looks like someone regurgitated it or something," Harry added, yelping when Hermione slapped his arm with her wooden spoon.
"Now, now, little ones," George interrupted as Fred grabbed Hermione's tense and fuming body, holding her in his embrace.
"Wooden spoons and forks away you lot," Fred reprimanded lightheartedly, "Hermione can't help it if her cookies turn the shade of one of Crookshank's hairballs." Everyone snorted in laughter as Hermione cried in indignation.
She pulled herself away from her fiancé's hold and waved her wooden spoon menacingly at him before looking crestfallen. "And here I am trying to learn and practice how to bake for you." She bit her lip sadly, her eyes downcast as she moved back around the table to dislodge the sugar cookies from the tray and place them on the cooling racks. She sighed.
"Oh, now you've done it, Fred," Hermione heard Ginny hiss before Fred moved toward Hermione's defeated figure.
From behind Fred weaved his arms around her waist, hugging her to him as he took a deep breath of his fiancé's familiar vanilla scent. "I'm only joking, love," he whispered into her ear as he nuzzled his nose against her neck and pressed a kiss to the pale flesh. Hermione felt the tingle of the hair on her arms rise from his intimate gesture. A gagging noise from behind reminded them of their audience effectively pulling Hermione out of her momentary distraction.
"Did you choke on something, Ronald?" Hermione asked innocently. Again the room filled in slight chuckles as the Weasley in question turned a slight red.
"No. I'm fine- perfectly fine, Mione."
"Well, then," she huffed as she reluctantly stepped out of her warm embrace and folded her arms across her chest. She pointed to the now lukewarm sugar cookies and smiled, eyes lighting up with pride. "That means you get to try my sugar cookies!"
Ron gulped and paled as his brothers, sister, and Harry chuckled at his misfortune. He shot them a glare. Before he could protest, however, she held out a cookie in front of him. "Please?" She pleaded as her big doe eyes widened and her bottom lip pouted. Seeing no escape from the kind but extremely dangerous witch in front of him, Ron hesitantly bit into the light tan colored cookie.
Silence fell on the kitchen's inhabitants as Ron chewed on the bite in meditative thought. Suddenly, his face twisted. He coughed and his eyes started to water up a bit, but he managed to force his face into a smile seeing Hermione's hurt look. "It's- cough- it's really good, Hermione."
"It is? Excellent!" Hermione clapped joyously. "The rest of you lot should have some then." She turned around to put the sugar cookies onto a plate. Behind her back everyone exchanged horrified looks.
"Can't. Sorry, Hermione! Harry and I have that- that thing… right Harry?"
"What? Oh! Err- yes! That thing in... Diagon Alley! Better go before we're late, bye Hermione!"
"Oi! You two! I'm supposed to go with you! Don't leave without me!" As Hermione turned around plate in hand, she found the kitchen door swinging closed behind Ron leaving only her, Fred, and George. She huffed in irritation before her eyes flickered expectantly toward George.
George's eyes widened seeing her sudden attention. "Oh! Um, um… Oh- what's that?" He placed his hand around his ear as he leaned toward the kitchen door. "Well, what d'you know? Looks like we're needed at the store! Sorry, 'Mione." George flashed a dimpled grin as he too shot out through the kitchen door. Hermione opened her mouth to yell at the departing twin, but whirled around to her fiancé who was lounging against the counter, arms folded in front of him as he took in the witch in her apron. Her cheeks were tinged pink in her anger.
Fred smiled roguishly as he took the plate from her hands and placed it on the counter behind him. She opened her mouth to protest, but was distracted when his strong arms pulled her into his embrace. Again he nuzzled the side of her head. "I do enjoy seeing you so riled up like this especially with you in an apron. Although, I would enjoy it even more if you were only in an apron and nothing else." She felt him grin as she slapped his arm for his lewdness. A grin slowly formed onto her face. Pulling back, Fred pressed a lingering kiss on her forehead before letting go and heading toward the kitchen door everyone else departed through.
"Hey! Aren't you going to eat my cookies?" Hermione called out to him.
"Sorry, love. You heard George- got called into the shop!" Fred replied as he hurried out. She glared at the door.
"Little babies- the lot of them!" Hermione muttered agitatedly. "Honestly! They turned out fine. They look like how they should be and everything!" She huffed as she grabbed a cookie and popped the whole thing in her mouth. Almost immediately her eyes widened and began to water while her mouth salivated to neutralize the salty taste of the cookie in her mouth. She quickly swallowed it, slightly wincing as it made its way to her stomach. "Merlin," she groaned and threw away the ruined chocolate chip and sugar cookies.
.....
Days later Hermione tried her hand at baking again. It took her a while to gather the nerve to try again after the torture she put her body through the last time, but there she was in the kitchen, apron tied over her summer sundress, bushy hair in a messy bun as she stirred the large bowl of cookie dough in her arms. She was so sure of herself this time. There was no way they could taste wrong, be burned, or turn the wrong color. She had a good feeling.
After deeming the dough thoroughly mixed, Hermione took a tablespoon and quickly scooped up a decent sized chunk of dough before plopping it onto the wax papered tray. She repeated the process until the two trays she had were filled with chocolate chip balls. Humming, she held a tray in each hand as her foot popped the oven door open. She placed each tray on different leveled racks and closed the oven door, setting her wand to time the cookies for fourteen minutes.
With nothing else to do, Hermione left the rest of the cookie dough on the table to see what the others were up to. As she searched the Burrow, she found out Harry and Ginny were off taking a walk, Ron and George were currently playing each other at wizard's chest, and her fiancé was apparently upstairs working on another Weasley's Wizard Wheeze's prototype.
By the time she found out where Fred was, Hermione only had a few minutes before her cookies were finished, so she walked back into the kitchen instead of going upstairs. She stopped in her footsteps upon seeing her fiancé's back facing her. She raised her eyebrow in suspicion as Fred swerved around to face her. He grinned at her easily.
"Fred, what are you doing?" Her arms crossed over her chest looking at him expectantly.
His eyes flickered innocently at her as he leaned his back against the dinner table. "Nothing, pumpkin, apple of my eye, frosting to my-"
"I don't believe you, love." Fred's innocent grin only increased more.
"I'm not up to anything, I promise!" He held his arms up in surrender. Hermione's eyes narrowed as she examined the twin's posture before flickering to the table behind him. Her eyes flashed dangerously.
"You stupid git!" She pointed accusingly at the salt shaker and orange food dye on the table. It had definitely not been there when she had left the kitchen earlier. "It was you!" She yelled as she angrily stomped over to the other side of the table. "I knew I was doing everything ri-"
Her words caught in her throat as Fred grabbed a hold of her arm and whirled her around, his lips seeking hers. Distantly, she felt his arm wind around her waist as his other hand cupped her cheek, bringing her closer. She responded in her anger and frustration, their lips and tongues fighting a fierce battle. Threading her own hands through his hair, she moaned softly as he shoved her none too gently against the counter of the kitchen, hands caressing her body unashamedly.
She felt in a daze having never explored this furiously sensual side of kissing her fiancé. Her hands pulled his waist roughly against her body and her breath quickened as his mouth traveled down to her neck. She mewled in pleasure at the feel of his tongue and lips paying homage to the pale skin there.
He bit her shoulder softly before leaning his forehead against her own. As the fog in her brain cleared, Hermione glared at him.
"I told you I love seeing you all riled up like this. Makes a man feel like he's in a desert desperate for water just seeing you," he answered her silent question before he pressed his lips against hers again. "Besides," he grinned cheekily, eyes twinkling happily, "can't have the bookworm succeed in everything the first couple of tries." He winked and pulled out of her embrace quickly.
"Why you-!" Hermione cried as she grabbed her mixing spoon only to hear her fiancé rush through the kitchen door. The soft chiming of her wand kept her from chasing after him. Huffing in aggravation, she pulled out the two trays, cooled the thankfully regular colored cookies with her wand, and bit into one of them.
Instantly, she felt a strange shiver course through her before a cold breeze hit her body. Completely bewildered by the new sensations, Hermione glanced down. Her eyes widened upon seeing her naked body under her apron. Her face flushed red.
"FREDERICK WEASLEY!"
A/N: I hope you liked it! It was an absolute pleasure writing this! I saw the movie Penelope yesterday and I had that amazing kissing scene in my head since then. It was so romantic- felt the butterflies and everything when I saw James McAvoy sweep Christina Ricci up like that. Anyway, please take the time to leave a review! Thanks!