A Fortunate Injury

Business was booming! There was hardly room to squeeze through the shop for all the bodies pressed together. Yet, Fred still recognized his little brother's tall and awkward form fighting the crowd as he moved through the room. The dark- haired Harry was just visible through the same crowd, and a cloud of frizzy curls was another step behind. As the three grew nearer to Fred's place by a new display of products, he began to catch the line of their conversation.

"You know," said Hermione, looking up at Harry, "that really is extraordinary magic!"

Fred could feel his ears burning with delighted embarrassment. Such high praise from the smartest witch he knew filled him with pride.

"For that, Hermione," he said cheerfully, "you can have one for free."

He swept one off the shelf and handed it to her, beaming brightly at his little brother's best girl friend. Although, considering how much time she had spent with them over the last five years, Fred found himself more inclined to simply think of her as Hermione Granger.

"How are you, Harry?" Fred asked, grasping the boy's hand in a firm, brotherly handshake. Harry nodded, though he looked far too tired for a boy of 16. Fred couldn't blame him for looking over-worn, and knew better than to ask the reason. Instead, Fred turned his attention to Hermione, really taking in her appearance for the first time. "And what happened to your eye, Hermione?"

Her eye was abloom with the blue and purple of a fine bruise, making her look as though she had been in quite a fight. He was torn between feeling proud and slightly worried.

"Your punching telescope," she said ruefully, her mouth quirked in the smallest of smirks.

"Oh blimey, I forgot about those," he said, chuckling. "Here -"

He handed her a small tub of ointment from the pocket of his bright magenta work robes. She took it from him hesitantly, and he found himself thinking that her hands were small and soft.

"Just - uhh…" he cleared his throat, "Just dab it on, that bruise'll be gone within the hour." When she looked skeptical he continued, "We had to find a decent bruise remover." Then suddenly he was bragging, "We're testing most of our products on ourselves."

"It is safe, isn't it?" Hermione asked. Fred could hear the anxiety in her voice. She was looking at the thick yellow paste, so she didn't see his shifting reaction as he ran his hand through his hair.

"'Course it is," he told her, surprisingly upset that she didn't trust him. Aware of his own strange reaction, he turned to Harry and quickly said, "Come on, Harry, I'll give you a tour." As he lead the messy-haired boy toward the back of the store, Fred stole a final glance at the young witch as she gently dabbed ointment on her afflicted eye.

Meeting with George made Fred feel considerably more steady. The twins happily showed their hard work to the boy savior. Though the two would die before admitting it, they were very proud of their more serious line of Dark Arts defense products. Dead tired they were, trying to meet the demand, but they were keeping people alive. And better and more important than that, through jokes and cute charms, they made sure people were really living.

Even as Harry commented on how handy their defensive products were, Fred found himself thinking of Hermione's compliment. He had always loved what he and George did, but he had never felt so proud.

Verity's voice broke through his reverie. George bid them farewell and left in a rush to fill an order for a joke cauldron. Fred continued Harry's tour, moving them back to the main floor. Straight away they ran into Hermione and Ginny still looking at the Daydream Charms. Hermione's brow was puckered thoughtfully as she read the box. Ginny pointed out something in a low whisper, and Hermione's face bloomed into blushing giggles.

'Laughter looks good on you, Granger,' Fred thought with a smile. He beckoned the two girls over.

"Haven't you girls found our special WonderWitch products yet?" Fred asked, mischief dancing in his eyes. He could already envision the potential embarrassment, or the vague possibility of interest.

"Follow me, ladies…"

Immediately he knew he had misjudged their reactions. Instead of blushing, laughter, or interest, the expressions on the two girls turned wary and a bit sour.

"Best love potions you'll find anywhere!" He boasted, yet they remained unamused. George jumped in at that moment, back from the order. He managed to steer the mood of the conversation even further south.

"But we're not selling them to our sister!" He interjected sternly.

Ginny deflected, growing temperamental. Fred saw Hermione hiding a small, knowing smile behind her hand, and found himself jumping into the grilling of his baby sister's love life.

The next few moments moved far too quickly for Fred's liking. He was suddenly arguing with Ron, who had the nerve to think he could just take things without paying. Fred laughed when his mother caught the idiot flipping him the bird.

Then Harry elbowed Hermione and they looked out the window as a boy with white-blonde hair hurried by. Fred was sure that he was the only one who saw the three sixth years disappear beneath Harry's cloak.

Fred smiled and wished them well, Then he turned back to his mother and started giving her the grand tour.

"I can't believe Ginny. She's far too young to be dating," George complained. He was reclining on the plush brown couch that took up a significant part of the main room of their flat. Nursed in his left hand was a bottle of butterbeer.

In spite of himself, Fred chuckled lightly.

"She's not so young anymore, Georgie. I was already dating Angelina. And you were snogging Katie behind the broom shed…" Fred's mind drifted through some memories.

"But we're not Ginny…" George retorted.

"No, most assuredly not. She's far smarter. And you know she can certainly take care of herself. We've taught her plenty well for that. Besides… I doubt they will be together for long. She's far too much of a firecracker for that kid." Fred responded, and George nodded his agreement.

Fred probably would have been more upset by her sister's maturity, except that Granger wasn't much older, and she had turned into quite the young woman. He felt he should be more concerned about his feelings for Hermione, but for some reason he wasn't. She had been around so much in the last few years. They had talked, and gotten to know each other. They were friends at least.

"I suppose." George finally said, breaking through Fred's thoughts.

After a moment something seemed to dawn on George, and a wild grin erupted on his face.

"You know who else isn't young anymore?"

Fred turned his face away from his twin, pretending to be very busy with the paperwork on the small desk before him. He felt his face heating up even before George finished his thought.

"That Granger certainly has grown up… and she no longer seems to have a stick up her bum. She even complimented your daydream charm." George couldn't hide the glee in his voice.

"She did indeed George…" Fred replied curtly, writing notes on a new experimental sweet they were set to work on the following week.

"And you broke up with Angie quite a while ago, so you are both gloriously unattached." George pressed, giving voice to the thoughts that Fred had already been mulling over.

"Yes. I suppose we are. And yet." Fred replied. He fiddled with the quill in his hand, running it against the underside of his chin.

"And yet there is Ronnikins. Adorable little Ronnikins who can't see his own crush to save his life."

"Exactly, George. Which is why I shouldn't, right?" Fred asked, not wanting to hear the he answer. His voice was gruff, however.

"Ron is a grown boy. If he can't ask a girl out, he has no rights to her." George replied, surprising Fred into raising his head from his work. The twins' eyes met, and Fred grinned slowly.

"Right you are, brother mine." He said, and his work was suddenly forgotten in favor of a very different type of planning. He leaned back in his chair and pondered. Even after George got up to retire for the night, Fred sat there, thinking of what could be.