When the Bell Tolls
by Clover Bay
Summary: While sneaking back to Gryffindor tower, Fred narrowly avoids getting caught by Professor McGonagall only to run into Hermione and her shining prefect's badge. Surely he's in trouble, right? Or will Hermione surprise him
Pairing: Hermione and Fred
Disclaimer: All characters and setting references belong to JK Rowling. No infringement intended.
When the Bell Tolls
Just a few more meters. Fred could see, from his spot at the end of the hall, the twin knights that stood guard on either side of the fat lady's portrait as he started to get a stitch in his side from running back to the common room. He'd navigated the last three floors since the bell tower began to chime signaling curfew; nine chimes for the hour and then the song to denote curfew, but if he didn't make it back before the Hogwarts alma mater concluded, he would be risking getting caught out of bounds.
Sneaking around and general mischief were specialities of his and George's; they'd been caught a fair few times. Their current streak, though, was twenty four days without being found and tonight's little adventure wasn't worth risking the streak. Tonight's excursion hadn't been an elaborate prank or even a quick trip to the kitchens.
Fred began to slow his run to quiet his steps as he got closer to the Gryffindor common room. Whew. Almost there . . just . . a . . few . . more . . steps . . .
Noise suddenly started reverberating off of the stone walls as the echoing voices drew nearer to him. On instinct, he had stopped moving forward and ducked into a niche that he and George only used when they were moving away from Gryffindor tower rather than toward it.
Thump.
There were so many shadows in the narrow passageway that he couldn't see her until it was too late. Sprawled out on the floor in front of him was none other than Hermione Granger. Well, at the moment she resembled Prefect Hermione more than the Mione who had joked around with them at the Burrow over the summer.
"Sorry 'bout that," he offered quietly as he reached down to pull her to her feet.
"Fred," she almost sounded sad as she said his name, "why aren't you in the tower?" Just as she finished her question, the last chords of the Hogwarts' anthem rang out over the castle.
"Well, you see . . I was just . . ."
"Ugh. Really? Fred you don't know how hard it's been making sure I haven't seen you and George this past month. Now, well now you've made it impossible to ignore." The exasperation was clearly evident in her tone.
Fred wanted to comment on the cute way she had fisted her hands and planted them on her hips in her super girl pose, but changed course when he realized what she said. "Wait, you've been purposely . . ." Fred stopped abruptly and held his finger up to his lips to shush Hermione. The voices had gotten closer and he could now distinguish them as Professor McGonagall and Mr. Filch.
Chancing a peek around the corner, he saw an iridescent shimmering bubble now surrounding the two and blocking out their conversation.
He felt Hermione using his shoulder to pull herself a little higher to look over his shoulder. If he were to turn, Fred was sure they would be almost nose to nose. As it was, he began to get a bit flustered. It had been happening more and more around Hermione but he was usually able to disguise it. In the close confines of the narrow hall, though, it looked like they would have to wait until the main corridor cleared.
"Why are we just watching them?" Hermione whispered.
"Um, I don't exactly have permission to be out. And you, well, if you and I step out together, it's going to look a lot different than you probably intend." He left his statement hanging as he leaned out again.
About twenty minutes later, Fred and Hermione sat slumped on either side of the passageway. Checking again, Fred saw that McGonagall and Filch were still talking. With a grin, he looked at Hermione and then back out.
In a higher pitched voice, he tried to mimic the older woman's voice as he interpreted the conversation inside the charmed bubble. "Mr. Filch, this castle is absolutely filthy. Look at this floor . . tsk, tsk, dust everywhere."
Hermione giggled and shimmied over and deepened her voice to start speaking for Filch. "My back, it's just not what it used to be. And my hands," Filch was waving his hand back and forth wildly, almost looking like a human windmill.
"There is absolutely no excuse for this!"
"But Professor, just listen for a moment."
"What is that atrocious odor?" Fred chuckled as he saw McGonagall's nose snarl and a pinched look cross her face.
Hermione decided to run with Fred's new interpretation. "Those elves sure know how to cook. Excuse me. It's not bad manners, just good food."
"There is no excuse for that stench!"
Before either of them realized the time, the bell tower rang ten times. It also served to motivate McGonagall and Filch to move along and leave the corridor.
Once again, Fred reached down to help Hermione stand after he'd risen to his feet.
"You know, you never did explain why you didn't just turn me in?"
"I didn't want to. Haven't really for a long time." She blushed as she moved past him and toward the common room.
"Oh yeah, and why is that?"
"You're so full of questions. How about I ask you one . . why didn't you just leave through the other end of the passageway?" Her eyebrows rose as she watched him for an answer.
Honestly, he couldn't come up with an answer he felt comfortable saying right now. Instead, he chose to return her question with another. "Would you like to meet again sometime and accidentally get stuck in a secret passage?"
They had reached the fat lady's portrait. "Secrets are for keeping," Hermione intoned, prompting the portrait to swing open. She looked back at Fred as she started to climb the stairs toward the girls' dormitory.
"Was that a yes?" he asked as she smiled, nodded, and hurried toward her room.
Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you'd like to see their story continued, let me know and I'll extend this one-shot into something more. ~Clover :-)