Here's Chapter 1 of my first FanFiction, Letting Him In. It's been revised at this point, so there's some different dialogue. Hope you like it!
Enjoy!
I own not a thing…
Ch. 1: Singing, Pancakes and Quidditch Jerseys
"SHE'S A WILD ONE…!"
Fred smiled and shook his head. She thought he was at the shop. 'She would never sing like that if she knew I was here. She doesn't sound half bad…honestly, she's pretty good. A muggle song I guess since her radio is in the kitchen.'
Hermione was a muggle born witch, and she had some very strong attachments to muggle things, especially radios and TVs. Since the final battle, she had been struggling to find a sense of peace. Her time with Bellatrix at Malfoy Manor had done a number on her. Fred stepped out of the loo, toweling off his hair, still listening to the witch in his kitchen.
"…A WOMAN-CHILD, IN A STATE OF GRACE. WHEN SHE WAS 3 YEARS OLD ON HER DADDY'S KNEE, HE SAID YOU CAN BE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BE…"
Yanking on his clothes that he planned to wear under his Wizard Wheeze's Robe later, he peeked into the hallway and noticed she was pouring pancake batter on the griddle. 'She makes great pancakes', he thought while taking in the view. She looked fresh out of bed. She was wearing shorts, and her hair was up in a messy bun and… 'she's wearing my old Quidditch jersey'. Fred thought his heart might stop. He thought he'd thrown it out by accident while Spring Cleaning a few weeks ago. He'd looked everywhere for it. It didn't fit him well anymore, but it was sentimental. 'So that's where it went! Why did she take it though? She doesn't even like Quidditch. Maybe she just likes you? No. She's your roommate, and that's temporary, at best. She's been looking for her own place since she got here, she's not staying…oh, damn it all to hell…'
"Ahem." He hated to disrupt her, but his curiosity got the better of him. He was a Weasley, you know.
"Oh Merlin, I didn't know you were here!" Her spatula clattered on the counter and she spun around to face him. "Why aren't you at the shop?"
"George opened this morning. Day after the kids go back to Hogwarts is always slow. I'm going to go in after lunch." He said, picking up a banana.
"Hey, I'll make you some pancakes! I can make more batter." She'd already started more batter by the time she finished her sentence. 'Might as well indulge', Fred thought wickedly.
"That'd be great Hermione, thank you. I do have a question, though…"
She smiled sweetly, "Ask away."
He dropped his eyes, not sure how to proceed. "Where did you get my jersey from?", he blurted.
Her eyes widened and she spoke, "I…I found it in your throw away pile. I didn't think you wanted it, but I also couldn't imagine you throwing it away, so I removed it from the pile. I meant to ask you about it but it made its way to my room and…I just decided to sleep in it. It's…it's comfortable. You can have it back!"
Fred closed the gap between them a bit. "I didn't mean to upset you, you can keep it 'Mione. I didn't mean to throw it away, but it looks better on you anyway." She relaxed, nodded, and set the pancakes on the island.
This was becoming a habit, them getting flustered when near each other. Fred wouldn't admit it to anyone but George, but he has fancied Hermione since her 4th year. The Yule Ball is what sealed it for him. He truly saw how beautiful she was, and he was ashamed in a way that it had taken her getting dressed up for him to notice. She was beautiful standing in front of him now in her sleep clothes and eating breakfast with him. He bid her goodbye after they'd eaten and walked down to Diagon Alley to go grab a few essentials. He got lost in thought almost immediately during his trip.
George spent a lot of time at Angelina's flat, so he and Hermione were alone together often. The twins had extended the offer of their extra room in the flat above the shop while she apartment hunted. The Burrow was cramped and he knew his mother could be overbearing. With Ginny and Harry's wedding now 4 months away, Molly Weasley was a force to be reckoned with. Hermione was the maid of honor and Fred could see that making living quarters much more hectic when the mother of the bride could ask you questions at any given time. She practically jumped at the opportunity to get out of the Burrow that day in the shop.
The only reason she was even still at the Burrow was the mishap involving her flat. 'Only Hermione would find a flat rented out by a secret DeathEater.' Fred chuckled now, but a few weeks ago it was no laughing matter. Much to George's mischievous delight, Fred had taken the day off to help her move from the Burrow. When they were moving her couch in, a commotion down the hall startled them. Harry, new to the Auror Department, was dragging her landlord out with magical binding. Her landlord, Mr. LeNeave stared at her down the hallway and gave her the most sinister look. It took her a moment to process that Harry was hunting remaining Deatheaters and that the only reason she would see him arrest someone would be for that reason. She had been in extreme danger and she hadn't known. She physically recoiled at his stare, and backed right into Fred, who didn't say a word, but just put his arms around her. 'She had needed it.' He thought. All she wanted to do was have a normal life, but after this war and everyone's scars, that was harder than anyone imagined.
