Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, terms and locations belong to the one and only queen of planet earth; J K Rowling.
And without any further ado
It started with a question… Then it blew up!
"Gather around my little ones and prepare for the festivities!" The loud voice of one Fred Weasley rang around the previously silent common room of Gryffindor Tower. Most everyone laughed and eagerly moved to sit in front of the Disastrous Due, The Weasley Twins, except for Hermione Granger, the lone in-house bookworm. She scoffed and continued on with her translation of the 1 000 Runes for the Present Day Witch, a book published in the early 1800's.
She could hear the general commotion the twins and their posse caused even when surrounded by the handy Muffliato spell. From what she can gather, the Twins cannot believe that the Gryffindor Tower has become so utterly "dull and dreary" since they left to accomplish their dream, but now the Gryffindors "need not fear for they are back at Hogwarts School for Witch craft and Wizardry for at least until next year" to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. She heard words like "joyous occasion", "prank war", "fun times" and "games" tossed around and she started to concentrate more and more on her surrounding than her book which suddenly seemed very "dull and dreary". Now that the war has passed and the threat of Voldemort looming over their heads is no longer, Hermione felt that she deserved some time to be a proper silly child as is her right.
With the last thoughts still ringing in her ears, she made her way to the edge of the rowdy bunch of second years.
Fred caught sight of Hermione trying to blend in behind the rather large crowd of Gryffindors his brother and he are currently entertaining with cock and bull stories of their time in the war. A delicious idea crept into the folds of his conscious and without further pondering on possible consequences he blurted out;
"Oi, you lot! Who's up for good clean game of Truth or Dare?" The way Fred smirked at George was enough to tell him that this game was going to be as good and clean as a Death Eater covered in shit.
Naturally, all hands flew to the air after Fred's abrupt request of a favourite pass time in the Tower.
Hermione was cautious at first but the laughter and happiness that consumed the younger children made her feel especially giddy tonight. This is what she fought for.
After the crowd formed a lopsided semi-circle facing the twin, George stood up and announced the rules;
"First off, no dares may include harming people of other houses nor may the dare do irreparable damage to anyone of this House."
"Second! There is no restriction on the truth aspect of this game, ask what you may." Fred added staring straight at Hermione, he went on further,
"And as I was the one who so graciously requested this game, I get to choose the first victim, sorry, I meant player."
After scanning the faces of the awaiting audience, Fred decided to let Hermione sweat a bit before he called on her, he than spotted someone he would really like to annoy,
"McLaggen! You go first, truth or dare?"
Cormac looked gobsmacked; he did not expect to be picked first, let alone by Fred Weasley.
"Dare." He stated simply, if the dare was too much he'll gladly take the forfeit.
Interesting "I dare you… to point to the person you are madly in love with." Fred grinned widely; he has the perfect forfeit planned if McLaggen failed to comply.
But as it happens, Cormac McLaggen pointed, without hesitation, straight at Ronald Weasley. He has a now-what (Chocked eyebrow and all) kind of expression on his face staring at Fred, waiting for some kind of reaction.
"You do understand that these kind of dares fall under 'truth' and therefore you are not allowed to lie, right?" George gave his two cents, eyebrow raised in mock challenge.
"I know." Cormac replied, head raised and proud, looking at Ron's blushing face he couldn't help himself, "I am in love with Ron, anyone have a problem with it?"
Surprisingly no one made a fuss about the sudden declaration of love. They just asked him to proceed with the game.
"Alright, Harry! Truth or dare?"
"I'll rather go for truth, I doubt there's anything you lot don't already know about me." He laughed.
"Funny. So, Harry, did you ever think about sleeping with Hermione?"
There was a collective gasp following the question, some out of shock and some out of excitement, it was kind of a touchy question but most everyone wanted to know, now that Ginny and Harry broke up, if there is anything romantically going on between Hermione and Harry. They did spend an awful lot of time together in the heads' common room.
Hermione herself was rather shocked at the question, more so than the fact that Cormac was gay. She looked at the pained expression on Harry's face and she could deduce the answer straight away.
"Yes."
There was an explosion of questions following his answer but the loudest of them all was from Fred; "Did you sleep with 'Mione?" The question was for them both and this time it was Hermione that answered;
"No, Harry and I did not sleep together. Yes, we shared a tent together, alone, for months but Harry knew my affections lay elsewhere and he did not even broach the subject. Now can we move along?"
"Yes, George, I choose you. Truth or dare?"
"Dare me, mate!" George puffed out his chest, looking a warrior ready to receive his orders.
"I dare you… To scream "I'm sexy and I know it" at the top of your lungs every time you hear the word "Professor" for the rest of the week." An evil-esqe smile gracing his features.
"No problem. I am sexy and by the end of this week all of you will know it. Now, Katy, truth of dare darling?"
"I'll go for truth, Professor Weasley." She replied with a wink.
"I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT! Now your question, my dear pupil, is what do Thing 1 and Thing 2 like to do?"
"Excuse me? What is thing 1 and what is thing 2?"
"That is not an acceptable answer. Do you forfeit?" George was begging Merlin that she'll take the forfeit.
"I forfeit! But now you have to tell me what is thing 1 and 2."
"Well first, the forfeit is to kiss me, on the lips, no cheek action, for at least five seconds."
Katy rolled her eyes as she crawled the meter of distance that lay between them and pressed her lips against his for… well more than five seconds until a lousy second year decided to yell "Professor" and caused George to yell in her face "I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT! And so does Katy! And Thing 1 and Thing 2 always do the exact opposite of what you tell them to."
Everyone burst out laughing at Katy's stunned expression and the liveliness returned somewhat.
"I have an idea!" again Fred's the one to capture all the attention, "Let's break into a few groups of at least 10 people and play in groups. This large crowd won't work with the structure of this game, how about it?" There were many nods of approval and students starting forming groups. Cormac discreetly made his way up to the boys' dormitories, unwilling to face Ron at the time.
Harry ended up in a group with the usual people, George, Fred, Katy, Hermione, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, Neville and unsurprisingly honorary Gryffindor Luna Lovegood and they placed themselves in front the fire place to keep the chilly weather at bay. Ron excused himself, saying he needed to go confront McLaggen about his horrible confession ("Like I'm gonna be okay with tellin' that story to my kids.").
"So how do we decide who goes first?" Luna asked in a far off voice.
"I say you, Herms, Seamus, Neville and Dean decide between yourselves who gets to go." Fred suggested.
"I think Luna should go first." Neville chimed in, staring at her like a puppy staring at a mouth-watering, juicy, piece steak. There were nods of approval all around.
"Neville, may I ask you the truth or give you a dare?" Luna asked in her dream-like voice.
"I-I… I'll take a dare." War-hero or not, Neville felt that he would never have the courage to speak so openly with the love-of-his- life Luna.
Hermione noticed a change in Luna's expression, her eyes focused (for what seemed like the first time) and zoned in on Neville's blushing face. She scanned his whole body, taking in his slumped posture and busy hands, the small beads of sweat gathering on his upper lip;
"Neville, I dare you to speak with me for an hour every day for the next month. I'm certain that will give us a good solid support structure for when we start dating." Luna was back to her dream-like state so fast Hermione almost feared she imagined the intensity with which Luna scrutinized her bumbling friend.
Neville was unsurprisingly speechless. He was doing a rather interesting impressing of a fish out of water. All he managed was a nod in her general direction and pointed towards Hermione;
"I'll rather go with a truth if you don't mind."
Neville was looking around the group for some inspiration; he didn't know why he had chosen Hermione, as he doesn't have anything to ask her…
Neville saw Fred pointing at himself and then discreetly making a heart shape with his hands, Neville wasn't as slow as most people believed him to be, he had deep thoughts and revelations and the like as much as the next person. He also knew that he wasn't the one that should ask Hermione a personal question about her love life;
"Hermione, is it true that you accepted the apprenticeship with Professor Snape for next year?"
Okay, so this is also a bit of personal business but he was very curious and by the looks of their friends, she hasn't told anyone except for him and Harry.
WHAT APPRENTICESHIP?! "Hermione, what is he talking about?!" Fred was in front of her, on his knees, shaking her by the shoulders so fast she could've sworn that he had just apparated.
Unbeknownst to Fred, he had captured the attention of every Gryffindor in the vicinity with his outburst but he didn't care. His Hermione was going to apprentice for the Dungeon Bat (Who cares if he's actually a good guy) when she had already declined his invitation. Why would she choose the greasy git over me?
"Hermione, you said you didn't want to be a teacher here. So why would you even consider doing an apprenticeship with Snape? I already told you that I would gladly give you an apprenticeship for Defence. Why deny me and accept him? Choose me Hermione."
Hermione was flabbergasted, Fred Weasley was pleading, pleading, with her to accept his invitation. She did not believe he was serious when he first approached the subject of her being his apprentice. He sounded like he was joking at the time! But she did not lie to him.
"Fred, please get up. You're making a scene and you don't even know all the facts." She hissed right in his face. He refused. This childish behaviour was annoying her.
"I did not choose Professor Snape over you. I did not lie when I told you I don't want to become a teacher but you walked away from me before I could tell you that I was offered a position as an Unspeakable at Mysteries. But before I can qualify I need my Masters in Potions or Transfiguration. I choose to become an Unspeakable, I choose a Potion's Mastery over a Transfiguration Mastery. MY LIFE DECISIONS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" By the end of her rant she was standing over him, hands planted firmly on her hips and her face flushed in righteous anger.
In typical Granger fashion, she spun on her heel and marched straight through the portrait hole before anyone thawed from their frozen states. So much for silly games.
She was blindly speed walking down the corridors trying to leave them all behind her, muttering angrily to herself about oblivious boys who wouldn't see a good thing right in front of them even if it were a basilisk disguised as a Christmas tree.
"Mumbling about seeing in front of you when you nearly bowled me over is a sign of insanity Granger." A suave voice spoke from somewhere above her head. Hermione belatedly realised that she was in the arms of Draco Malfoy, his hands firmly around her waist. He pushed her back slightly, carefully, like he was afraid she would fall down.
"Going by that confused look on your face I gather you didn't see me when you walked right into me, huh?"
Hermione felt her face burn bright red at his comment, "I am so sorry, Draco, I was in the middle of one of my rants. You know how I can get, right?" She tried to laugh off the embarrassment caused by her thoughtlessness
"Don't sweat it, Granger. Are you on your way back to our rooms?" He asked, tucking a stray curl behind her ears with a frustrated look on his face, "When are you going to let me do your hair? It's a mess!"
Glad for the normalcy brought on by Draco, Hermione proceeded with her never tiring defence of her hair.
'… and who cares if it looks like a bird's nest. I don't have anyone to impress with my flowing locks." Hermione ended her well revised argument.
"Well, maybe if you spent some quality time with my hands in your hair then you would have someone to impress darling." Draco raised his hands in a mock threatening way, pretending to stalk her.
"Oi get away from her!" A loud voice boomed down the hall way. Both teenagers froze in shock as they saw two red spots dash towards them. Those spots revealed themselves as the Weasley twins, wands raised at Draco's chest.
"FREDRICK WEASLEY! What do you think you're doing?" Hermione slapped his wand hand down, "Put away that wand! And you two, other Weasley." She glared at them both. She has had enough of their irresponsible behaviour, they are Professors, sculptors of young minds and they act like… like baboons!
"I cannot believe what I am seeing. Two Professor," "I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT!" "CUT THAT OUT OTHER WEASLEY! As I was saying, the two of you are educators at this school, there are high expectations for you both and you DARE to raise your wands at not only a student of this school but the Head boy! I am ashamed to come from the same House as people like you-"
"Be quiet, Hermione."
"But Draco-"
"No. We both know you are just in a bad mood and you're taking it out on them. Now be quiet and let's go to our rooms before you say something I know you'll end up regretting." Draco made to grab her hand but was she was pulled back from him by one of the Weasley twins.
"No, Hermione will be staying right here and she will speak to me. George?" Fred refused to look away from Hermione's face but he knew his brother would give them privacy. (And make sure that Malfoy stays away.)
"Granger, are you alright?"
"I'll be fine Draco, thank you. Tell Harry I said sorry for earlier, okay?"
"I will tell him."
As George and Draco make their way back to the Tower, Fred dragged Hermione into one of the classrooms around the corner.
"What do you want Fred?" Hermione sounded very resigned, even to herself. As if she has accepted the worst fate the world can give her. She just gave up trying to talk with this boy.
"I want you to not be so familiar with Malfoy. I want you to not speak with Neville, alone, in the greenhouse. Fuck! I want you to not hug and kiss Ron and Harry every time you see them! I sure as hell don't want you to ever dance with Victor Krum again. I want you to not heal Seamus every bloody time he blows up! I want you to not be Snape's apprentice. I want… I want you, Hermione. I want you to know that I'm the only one you should hug and kiss and be alone with."
"Fred, what are you saying?" She looked at the man in front of her, he looked lonely and angry and very determined.
"I'm saying that I love you."
She knew it. She knew that his behaviour could mean that he loves her but she never let herself believe, to hope.
"Hermione," Fred was distressed to see tears streaming down her cheeks. "Don't be sad, I… I can't handle it when you're sad. I don't know what to do!"
"Just hold me, you idiot."
"Oh" He took her into his embrace and softly kissed the crown on her head. His rubbed his hands in soothing motions over her back and softly swayed them to and fro, humming a childhood lullaby.
"I love you to Fred Weasley."
AN Hi everyone! Thank you for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed it. I played it kind of safe; I tried not to drag things out as this was my first try at a Fredmione shipment. Many thanks and love to my best friend Zetta-chan for being my beta and helping me whenever I feel like throwing in the towel. (More like throwing down the pen).
I hope the side pairing were easy to spot :P
Hope all of you have a great day!
~ Lots of love .