Author's Note: This is a fun little plot bunny that's been hopping around in my head for awhile and I've finally gotten around to writing, editing and submitting it for you! Enjoy! And, as always, I don't any of the characters!
Harry was off stalking Draco, Ron was frantically practicing Quidditch with Ginny, and Hermione had just finished her last essay and slipped her books into her trunk when she found it. The Patented Daydream Charm that Fred had magicked into her pocket when she'd refused to actually reach out her hand and take the free one he'd offered her over the summer.
She blushed and looked around the dormitory, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that it really was empty. She could only imagine the teasing she'd have to endure if someone like Lavender saw her with a Wonder Witch product. She could handle it of course but it would take up energy she didn't want to expend on something so trivial.
"Which is exactly why I should have tossed this the second I found it in my pocket," Hermione murmured to herself, tossing the box back in her trunk and pulling out a historical romance novel instead. At least the novel, albeit a bit vapid, would still be beneficial to her mind with its (mostly) historically accurate facts and flowery language. A daydream couldn't possibly be as mentally stimulating as that. So she curled up in the book and tried to forget about the potion.
But ten minutes and twenty some pages later Hermione gently tossed her book down and crawled down to where her trunk was pressed against the foot of her bed. "I doubt this thing even works," she said as she pulled the small pink box back out. "I should test it so I can complain and stop worrying about it."
So without further ado she secured the curtains around her bed (she certainly didn't want her roommates to walk in on her drooling or doing something even more embarrassing) then she settled against her pillows and downed her potion in one gulp.
Hermione's eyes fluttered open and she blinked against the hot sun. Part of her knew she wasn't really in a hammock in the Weasley's backyard but the feeling didn't shatter the illusion or the sensation.
"So they were smart enough to build in precautions," she noted as she pulled one of her legs out of the hammock and used it to set herself swaying. It really was a smart addition to let the user keep his or her awareness of their real surroundings. Some potions of a similar nature had even been banned because the hallucinogenic properties were so strong that they were dangerous. This she knew she could pull herself out of if she had to.
Not that she wanted to, at least not yet. The sun was nice and warm and the hammock comfortable. Only shouldn't a daydream be at least a little bit exciting? she thought to herself. Because at that moment all she wanted to do was nap and that wasn't anything new or special.
She stretched and sighed, her eyes closing as her always tense muscles relaxed and that's when she heard it. The soft sound of someone walking through too tall grass. She wasn't alone after all.
"Who is it?" Hermione called as she reached for her wand. Only her wand wasn't beside her. She felt around for it in a panic, nearly tipping herself out of the hammock when she leaned over to look under the swaying fabric.
Only she didn't fall because someone steadied the contraption. "Your wand is holding up your hair," the person told her, a faint hint of amusement in his voice.
Hermione jumped out of the hammock and spun around only to find Fred Weasley just a few feet away. "I would never do anything so frivolous as to use my wand as a hair accessory!" she said to cover her surprise at seeing him here in her daydream. Was he really just there because she wanted him to be or had he manipulated the potion? If it was the latter then it was not only not funny it was a breach of trust as well as very very illegal.
"Check your hair Granger."
Fred's voice broke through her suspicions and she automatically reached up to the back of her head and sure enough her top knot was being held up by her wand. She quickly pulled it out and her hair tumbled down. "Daydream me is really stupid," she muttered.
Fred leaned up against one of the trees the hammock was tied to and smirked at her. "Not sure why you're babbling about daydreams but even if you are crazy I want you to know…you look good with your hair down."
"My hair is always down and it's always ridiculous," Hermione said. It was her automatic response when it came to her hair. She accepted and admitted that it was crazy but tried not to worry about it.
Fred grinned sheepishly. "I kind of like it like that, all wild. You always seem so uptight and strict but then I see your hair down and everywhere and I wonder what it would be like talking to a Hermione that's figuratively let her hair down as well as literally."
Hermione didn't respond because her mind was racing. I use a Daydream Potion and all I daydream about is Fred complimenting my hair? Merlin, I am so boring. Then Fred's voice broke through her self pity.
"Do you know what I'm thinking?" he asked, his voice low.
Hermione was surprised to see he'd moved closer while she'd been deep in thought. Instead of leaning against the tree on the opposite side of the hammock he was standing right next to her, close enough that she'd barely need to move in order to touch him.
"Why…why would I know what you're thinking?" Hermione stammered, blushing as she realized the route her own thoughts were taking. It was like the Daydream Potion knew her secrets, like it knew that the first time she'd ever daydreamed about a real boy and not some film star or book character, she'd been a first year and she'd thought of what it would be like to kiss…
"Fred," she sighed as he pulled her into an embrace.
She was the one who initiated the kiss by threading her hands through his hair and pulling him down to meet her lips.
He didn't hesitate in responding, slanting his mouth over hers and casually nipping at her bottom lip. When she gasped he slipped his tongue passed the seam of her lips. Their tongues tangled and danced until they had to break apart in order to catch their breath.
Fred rested his forehead against hers. "So I take it you've wanted to do that for as long as I have?"
Hermione decided to be honest since this was, after all, just a daydream. "I guess I've thought it ever since I had a dream about you the night of my Welcoming Feast."
Fred's eyes twinkled in amusement. "Oh really, Granger? Do tell."
"We were just kissing! Don't make it sound dirty. I was only eleven at the time!" She lightly smacked his chest in indignation.
"I always wanted to be the one to get you all riled up and out of your comfort zone." And with a wink he vanished and everything else faded away until she blinked and found herself back on her bed in Gryffindor Tower.
Hermione didn't give her daydream much more thought until she found herself face to face with Fred when she went to join Ginny, Harry and Ron in Grimmauld Place's library. They were all staying there for the Christmas holidays.
"So you are here already," Hermione said as she tried to push all thoughts of the daydream potion out of her mind. "Your mum wasn't sure if you'd show up tonight or tomorrow."
"We thought about keeping the shop open tomorrow for any last minute present buyers but decided not to," Fred admitted. "It just seems like the war will come to an end sooner or later so we may as well spend time with our family while most of us are still here."
Hermione nodded, knowing Fred was referencing Percy's hurtful estrangement of his family. "That's actually very thoughtful of you."
Fred chuckled and casually leaned against the wall. "Last time I ran into you you praised my magic and this time you're calling me thoughtful? Better be careful Granger or I'll question your motives," he teased.
Hermione opened her mouth to retort but Fred cut her off. "Did you do something different with your hair?"
Hermione's hands flew up to her hair, suddenly self-conscious. "Uh, no? I mean I did just finish a novel while I lay in bed so it's probably a little mussed."
Fred leaned close. "I kind of like your hair all mussed like that," he whispered and then brushed passed her and up the stairs.
She'd only made it halfway down the stairs when she realized how much real Fred had sounded like daydream Fred. It can't be a coincidence, can it? she mused as her gaze followed the path Fred had taken up the stairs.
No, it can't she quickly decided and rushed up the stairs and straight into Fred's room without knocking. "You spiked my Daydream Potion!"
Fred dropped the wrapped present he'd been holding and spun to look at her in surprise. "Am I missing something? We were talking about that on the stairs? Because it sounds like you are continuing a conversation I don't remember starting."
"The Daydream Potion you gave me before school started. I used it a couple of weeks ago and then tonight you said…and now I know you tampered with it somehow!" Hermione fumed and her cheeks flushed red. She was angry and nervous and since when had Fred's jumpers looked so good on his body?
"Hermione, I may be a prankster but even I would never pull a trick like that," Fred earnestly said as he took a few steps towards her. All traces of his usual teasing, jokester demeanor was gone. "First of all, that would be illegal and I sure as hell wouldn't want to risk losing the shop. And ˗"
"I know, I know," Hermione interrupted, flopping onto the trunk at the end of Fred's bed. "I should have realized you'd never jeopardize the shop. It's just…"
Fred dropped down beside her. "When you're faced with something you don't understand you get a little crazy. Believe me, I know. Why else do you think George and I tested our Skiving Snackboxes about a thousand times?"
"Because you were trying to drive me crazy?"
Fred laughed. "No! Because we knew it could work so we were determined to make it work. Irritating you was just an added bonus."
Hermione rolled her eyes and they fell into a silence that wasn't exactly comfortable but was nice all the same. And when Hermione was just about to excuse herself Fred's voice stopped her.
"So what happened in this daydream that made you think I had a hand in creating it?"
Hermione's eyes flickered up to meet his own and then back down again. The angry flush in her cheeks turned to a blush of embarrassment.
"That was too personal," Fred said in realization. "Forget I asked."
"No, it's okay." Hermione took a big breath to steel herself and looked him right in the eyes. "I dreamt about you."
Fred's eyes went wide and then darkened a bit. "Oh, really? And what was I doing in this daydream?"
Hermione took another deep breath and decided to tell the truth. And it wasn't until the end of her retelling that it started to get uncomfortable since she switched from facts to feelings. "So that's why I thought you'd tampered with the potion. Real you said the same thing about my hair as daydream you had."
Fred smiled. "I guess you're just so smart that you knew how I felt about you." And then he reached over and tangled his fingers in a strand of her hair.
Hermione froze, her eyes wide in surprise. "What are you saying?"
"You are smart and pretty and I like the idea of being the one to get you to let loose and laugh."
"I break the rules with Harry and Ron all the time," she pointed out.
Fred leaned even closer. "I know. That goes to show that you can relax and let go sometimes and it makes me want to get to know you better. So why don't we make your daydreams come true?"
Hermione couldn't help but smile as he pulled her into a gentle kiss.