Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, except the plot bunny that bit me!
A/N: It's at the bottom.
Honorary Redhead.
Hermione was fuming. She stormed out of the Weasley household and into the seemingly never-ending back garden. She huffed loudly and sat down next to the lake. Arms crossed, legs folded, she made herself a promise. She'd wait at least one whole week before going back to Ron.
Fred had finished working at the Diagon alley joke shop and was waiting in his bedroom at home for George, who was currently on his way back from a meeting with a wizard estate agent about buying a shop in Hogsmeade. George went, as he was usually the quieter, less easily riled, more patient and not as annoying twin. Molly had insisted that her children should all live under one roof, with the exception of the three eldest seeing as they had families of their own, while Voldemort was still at large. It was so she would know where they were at all times, she said. Fred and George hadn't bothered moving out since, and with all the money they'd saved on rent, they'd been able to put an offer on the available shop in Hogsmeade.
Shouts and thumps could be heard from downstairs.
"So, Mione and Ron are fighting again. I wonder what he did this time." Fred sighed to himself.
One last resonating bang sounded and Fred glanced out his south-facing window to see Hermione flop down next to the lake. In cases like these, it usually took someone to act as mediator so off he went to the garden.
Hermione sat sniffling, angry with herself that even now, Ron could still reduce her to tears with only a few mere words. All he had said was that he wished she were more like Lavender in the fact that Hermione was always 'bookish' and never had time for fun. How many times had their rocky relationship ended, only for Hermione to take him back? She was quite sure that she must love him. Why else would she take him back constantly? Plus, everyone said when they first starting going out in their seventh year of Hogwarts that they would end up getting married and such because they were so well suited. So why did it feel like it was hard work to stay together if they were so well suited she pondered. Did everyone struggle like this? Is this what love was?
"If it is, I'm going to burn all my childhood 'Fairy tales' books." she muttered darkly.
"Woah! Hermione, threatening to damage a book? What parallel universe did I walk into?" Fred said walking up behind her.
"Oh shut up, you know I wouldn't go through with it. After all, I'm 'bookish'!"
"Ahh... so it's the whole 'boring Hermione' card he's thrown in your face today." Fred said with an understanding tone.
"Yep. But I'm determined to forget about him for at least five minutes now. I won't give him the satisfaction of getting me angry." she stated and turned to look at the red-head sat next to her, "So, changing the topic, where's George?"
Fred looked stunned, then his face melted into a small smile. "It never ceases to amaze me that you can tell the difference between us two."
"Well, after working with you for nearly a year, I would hope I'd learnt to!" she laughed.
Hermione had insisted working with the twins on their latest inventions, partly so she could squash any attempts at extremely dangerous pranks they might sell and also because Ron had told her that he could never imagine her working at something like that because she seemed to have little imagination. To which she replied that she had to have a fantastic imagination after having been sharing a bed with him for three months. That argument had lasted a whole two weeks, in which she had threatened Fred and George with many hexes to take her on as staff. They had been quite grateful they had because she was actually very inventive, especially after her tiffs with Ron.
"Yeah," he laughed as well, "George should be coming back from the meeting anytime soon." he said looking out across the lake once more.
"And soon we shall know if WWW will take it's first step forward into passive world domination!" Hermione said, in a mockingly butch voice, as she gazed across the lake.
Fred tilted his head back and laughed aloud at that. Hermione smiled, Fred and George seemed to be the only ones ho laughed with her. Although she didn't really show that side of herself much as she was needed to be serious and think out plans rather than be like everyone else and go through with dangerous, reckless plans. After all, Harry himself said that if it wasn't for her brain, he might have died in the final battle against Voldemort.
"I love your dry sense of humour! I just can't seem to stop laughing!" Fred gasped.
"Why can't Ron be more like you?" Hermione whispered wistfully.
Fred sobered slightly and looked across to Hermione. He could see the unshed tears making her eyes sparkle as she looked out onto the lake in the gathering dusk. "Because he's Ron. That's how he turned out. Not everyone can be as charismatic and handsome as me!" he grinned.
Hermione laughed now. "Yes of course! Only your twin! And it's bad enough there's two of you!" and turned to face him with a wide smile.
The smile only shrank slightly when she realised Fred's proximity to her. Many times she had read in books that people ended up virtually nose-to-nose without realising it and she had always scoffed at the cliché-ness of it all. Now she was experiencing it first hand.
Fred was still grinning when Hermione turned to look at him. He continued to grin when her eyes captured his. They still sparkled, but with mirth this time rather than tears. That caused some sort of pressure to built in his chest and he felt that the only way to stop it would be to close his eyes. So he did.
But he also leant forwards.
Hermione's eyes also slid shut when Fred's lips came into contact with her own. As the kiss started to progressively get deeper, she shook herself out of her trance and pulled back.
Both of them looked slightly startled at themselves and each other.
Fred seemed to gather himself first. "I'm so sorry-" he started before getting cut off by Hermione leaping up and rushing towards the kitchen door and heading inside. Just before the door shut, he heard a strange gasp that sounded almost like a sob escape from Hermione.
Knowing that he'd probably screwed up their friendship and knowing that she was running back to Ron's arms again, he felt a more painful twinge in his torso. He wasn't quite sure why though. "Bugger it all!" he hissed and slowly got up and followed Hermione indoors, determined to avoid her for at least a week.
A/N: This idea has been in my head for a while now...well actually one line has been in my head that I haven't used yet but plan to in the next chapter! but anyways...I will try and finish my stories by at least September but I'm about to start my GCSE's soon so I can only really write for short amounts of time in my revision breaks, but when they finish (June 23rd) I promise I will sit down and write them all up! Tune in for hte next installment at a later date!