Written For - Mal (Malhearst) and the Last Ship Sailing Competition Round 4
Prompts - Mal: (Word) eldritch, (Scenario) We're having a snowball fight, and you just forced a snowball down my neck. It's on, (Quote) "I understood that reference." ~ Steve Rogers | Avengers - Last Ship Sailing: (Action) setting a dinner table, (Action) staring at a clock, (Setting) lake, (Dialogue) "You don't mean that.", (Word) smoke, (Emotion) bored - Last Ship Sailing Bonus Prompts: (dialogue) "There's no need to be so rude", (color) grey, (object) Knut
Notes - You should probably check Mal out, cause her story "12 Days of Christmas" is amazing. Frankly, I'm jealous of it. I wish I could have done her justice, but alas, this is far from my best work, but I'm still (kind of) proud of this. Anyway, Enjoy!
Word Count - 1,847
Hermione had been staring at the clock above their fireplace for two hours without so much as a glance at the book in her lap. Her parents had been trying to distract her with chores most of the past week, but when she dropped not one, but two dishes while setting the table for dinner the day before, they had called it quits.
Both Hermione's parents had to go to a bunch of parties over Christmas, but Hermione didn't care. In fact, she was quite glad they were, since that meant she could go to the Weasley's for Christmas instead, and Weasley Christmas's are the best Christmas's. So here she was, both bored and exited to no end, waiting with bated breath for her fireplace to burst into flames.
"Don't you think you should, eat, darling? It's quite rude to go to someone's house hungry, don't you think? Especially over the holidays," her mother said, sitting next to her on their sofa. Hermione shrugged.
"I would, but I'd probably get it everywhere. Besides, Mrs. Weasley will probably have a feast ready to eat as soon as I get there," she said. Her mother smiled fondly, ruffling her daughter's hair, the later ducking out of her mother's reach.
"Alright, dear. As long as you don't die because you forget basic human necessities," her mother said, and Hermione smiled widely.
"I'm not daft, mum. I think I'll be okay," she said. Her mother was about to reply, when the wood in the fireplace began to smoke, and Hermione jumped up and raced upstairs to grab her stuff, leaving her mother to greet the three redheads entering her house through the newly-erupted flames.
"Well, if it isn't the lovely Hermione Granger," said someone behind Hermione. She grinned widely; she could recognize that voice anywhere. She turned around to the smile she had memorized, and suddenly it all felt a bit less grey.
"Fred!" She almost knocked him over with the force of her hug, catching him by surprise. "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." He laughed.
"I'm not sure you know how long 'ages' is, love," he said. She stepped back, but was still grinning widely.
"There's no need to be so rude! That was a compliment," she said. Before Fred could get a word in, an identical redhead popped up beside Fred with a smirk.
"Your mum sent me up to make sure you two weren't snogging up here," he said. Both of the, blushed, but Fred smiled.
"I wish, but alas, not so much," he said. Hermione looked at him aghast, but he just winked. George laughed.
"So, Hermione, you excited for the best snowball fight you have ever, or will ever, fight in?" George asked. A wicked look crossed her face and she smirked.
"Of course I am! I've been looking forward to pelting you two with snow ever since I saw you," she said. Fred gave her puppy eyes, while George pretended to be shocked.
"You don't mean that!" George gasped. She snorted.
"Like hell I don't," she said. A lot of people seemed to not want Fred to talk, since before he could get his next words in, Mr. Weasley shouted for them to 'hurry up a bit, please'. She turned to grab her trunk, missing Fred's momentary sadness and George mocking his twin as she did, and grabbed Fred's wrist as she went, dragging him downstairs with her.
"Hey, 'Mione," Fred began a couple hours later, after a feast of a lunch and everyone fussing over Hermione. His face was very much needed, in her opinion. She closed her book and turned to him.
"Hello, Fred. What do you need me for?" He grinned.
"Wanna go see something cool?" Fred said. She shrugged, and taking that as a form of a yes, he dragged her outside, making her put on boots and a jumper on the way out. As soon as they were away from the warmth of the Burrow, she found out what he was talking about.
She could see the frozen over lake from where they were standing, and snow was blanketing everything. The lights from inside bled onto the canvas of the hilly yard. Snow was floating down around them, making the whole thing quiet and peaceful. Unearthly, even. And the second she looked at Fred himself, everything was made even more beautiful. His eyes were closed, leaving her to study his unusually pale skin and freckles that dotted his cheekbones like constellations. Snowflakes nestled themselves in his hair, and in the mostly pure white surrounding them his hair looked like fire. He was practically glowing. And he looked like the definition of perfect.
So, obviously, she decided to shove a fistful of snow down his shirt. He grinned, and cracked his knuckles as she giggled like a little kid.
"Oh, it's on Granger. Mark my words!" The trance the snow had put on the two broke in that moment, and Fred was immediately pelting her with snow and she was immediately laughing hysterically and dodging like her life depended on it, throwing her own snowballs everyone in a while and hitting him every time.
She was ducking and dodging his attempts like some sort of ninja, or at least, she liked to think so. If any of them did hit their mark, they only hit her legs or arms so they didn't hurt. Then one did hit its mark. Lucky her, it's mark was her face. She stumbled over, to disgruntled to care where she ended up, and ended up bumping her head against a tree. It didn't hurt much, but that didn't stop Fred from running up to her with worry in his eyes and spouting out apologies at random.
"I'm so sorry, are you okay? Please tell me you're okay. I don't know what I would do if I hurt you. I didn't hurt you, right? I'm so sorry, 'Mione, you were doing so well with dodging the rest so I thought-" he was cut off short by her insane laughter, and her insane laughter was to cut him off from saying anything else that sent her mind reeling anymore.
"I'm okay, Fred. Really. That one just caught me by surprise, that's all. Everything's okay," she said. His shoulders relaxed in relief, and he looked back up at her and smiled warmly. He smiled a lot. Hermione wasn't complaining.
"Thank Merlin. Now let's go get some hot chocolate. I think we both deserve it," he said, she smiled and nodded. Merlin, did she love him.
"Hermione, I'd like to tell you that my twin thinks you're brilliant and is kind of in love with you and you should probably tell him you feel the same about him so I don't owe Ginny any Knuts and so he can stop talking to me about how brilliant you are and that you'll never love him back." This beautiful, rambling sentence was how she was awoken the next day at four in the morning, shocking her out of her dreams of red hair speckled with white.
"George, I have no idea what you're talking about, but what I do know you're out of your right mind and that I really need some sleep," she replied. He sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Hermione, I definitely know what I'm talking about. Just kiss him or something before Christmas, please. If it's any later, Ginny wins, and I can't handle that kind of loss," he said. She blushed.
"Yeah, fine. Not like I haven't been looking for a reason to kiss him, anyway. Now go back to bed and let me sleep," she said. He smiled.
"You're a strange one, Granger. A strange, cool one," he said. He chuckled. "In fact, I think if Fred wasn't totally in love with you I would totally kiss you."
"Please don't do that," she said. He ruffled her hair.
"I wouldn't dream of it, darling. Now I do recall you telling me to go back to my room," he whispered, standing up. Hermione nodded in reply, so he left. But before he did, he turned around.
"Hey Hermione?" She shook herself awake so she wouldn't miss his soft-spoken words.
"Yeah?" He grinned.
"Make me rich," he said, then left the room. She sighed and shook her head, thinking.
"I'll try," she whispered into a room empty except for the snores of her best friend's sister.
"Hey, Hermione. What are you doing out here?" Hermione had left the Burrow after breakfast, favoring the frozen over lake instead of the warmth. She had to much to think about to be stuck in there with everyone crowding everyone. Fred had apparently come to find her, though. She glanced at him as he came to stand beside her.
"Just wanted to think," she said.
"About what?"
"You," she said after a moments hesitation. He looked at her in confusion.
"And why would that be?" His words were her opportunity, so after mustering up all the courage Gryffindors were known for, she spoke.
"Well, it's quite obvious that I'm in love with you, so that I suppose," she said. There was a pause, where everything was silent. Quite like the day before, but more terrible. Eldritch, she thought, that was the word she was looking for. Then, he burst out laughing. For a second, her heart was broken.
"You know, the whole reason I came out here was to tell you I'm in love with you," he explained when he got himself together. A grinned passed her face.
"How ironic," she said. He nodded.
"I was going to yesterday, but then you thought it would be a good idea to shove snow down my shirt. And then I was going to tell you after I destroyed you with snow, but then you hit your head. And now you're stealing my thunder!" She laughed.
"I'm not sure you had much thunder to begin with," she said. He raised an eyebrow.
"Is that some sort of challenge?" He was leaning down, and before she could think about what she was doing, she grabbed his collar and pulled him down to kiss him. Once she broke away, and he looked adequately dazed, she grinned.
"Of course not, darling. It's just a fact," she said.
"Merlin, I love you," he said.
"I know," she said, and kissed him again. For another moment, there was silence, each just happy that the other was there.
"I understood that reference," he said, and she broke into snickers.
"You're brother is going to be so glad I told you," she said. He smiled.
"Never mind him, I'm glad you told me," he said. She punched him in the arm, grinning widely.
"I would hope so," she said. He kissed her temple just as snow began floating down around them. There was a silence between them, both staring up at the sky in the 'It's snowing!' haze.
"You know so," he said, taking her hand. Hermione had to admit, she was having a pretty good week.