Since I received so many sweet reviews on the first chapter, and got another chapter for this one written, I decided it was time to post another chapter. Since everyone seems to want me to continue, I shall :)
Also, fun fact for you all, up until ten seconds before posting this story on here, the title was Of Love and Lust but I decided that it didn't quite fit.
Chapter 2 - A Fair Bet
Hermione was silent as she cooked supper. Harry and Ron were in the living room, laughing at something that had happened during Auror training. She tried to ignore them.
"Will one of you come set the table, or do I have to do everything around here?" She called irritably. They both appeared immediately.
"Would you like some help 'Mione?" Harry asked.
"It would be appreciated." She directed them to make the salad and set the table. They continued to joke and laugh as they did so, and Hermione was in a right foul mood by the time supper was done.
"I think I'm going to eat in my room, I've got some work to do." She said. It wasn't exactly a lie, there were some cases she wanted to review before tomorrow (she was a caseworker for mistreated magical brethren, especially house-elves. It wasn't SPEW, but it was something).
"You work too hard." Ron insisted. "Just sit and eat with us, it won't kill you."
Hermione knew it wasn't worth arguing. She was silent as they sat down to eat, except for thanking them for their compliments of her cooking.
"Okay 'Mione, what are you sulking about?" Ron asked.
"I'm not sulking."
"And Ron isn't afraid of spiders. What's wrong?" Harry said. Ron gave him a betrayed look.
She didn't want to tell them. She stood up. "I really have work to do."
Just then, a large, green barn owl swooped in and dropped a letter on the table. The three of them looked at it. It was for her. She picked it up and walked to her room without another word.
After closing and locking the door, she sat on her bed and opened the letter. She could barely read the messy handwriting, but as far as she could tell, it said;
Hermione,
Sorry for being rather unintelligent earlier. I had meant to ask you if you wanted to attend the party George and I are throwing at our flat on Friday night. Harry and Ron are invited as well, if they would like.
-Fred
Hermione sat, looking at the letter. She hadn't been invited to many parties in her life, so this was new. What kind of party would it be? She hoped not a crazy one with a lot of drinking. She would hate that.
She bit her lip. It couldn't hurt to go. She got up and returned to the kitchen. Harry and Ron looked up at her expectantly.
"Do you two want to go to a party at Fred and George's flat with me on Friday night? We're all invited."
Ron looked like he might decline, but Harry elbowed him. "Of course." Harry said with a forced smile. "Sounds like fun."
"Good." Hermione said, returning to her room before they could say anything else.
As she walked down the hall, she heard Ron complain "Fun, Harry, Fun? You've apparently never been to one of their parties."
Hermione tried to pretend she hadn't heard.
Fred couldn't help but feel anxious as the people started arriving. Why had he invited her? She probably hated parties, too many people, too much noise, and far too much fun. He should have invited her to a library or something, or a book club.
There was a knock at the door, and Fred opened it to let guests in – Dean Thomas, Katie Bell, and Hannah Abbot. He couldn't help but be relieved that she wasn't here yet. She had said she was coming, but she could have changed her mind. He almost hoped she had.
"You okay Fred?" Hannah asked. "You seem a little anxious."
"I'm alright." He forced a smile, which was something he rarely had to do.
"He's waiting on a very important guest." George explained, putting one arm around his shoulder.
"Oh, did you get your match this year?"
"I did." He smiled genuinely, despite himself.
"That's sweet, who is she?" Hannah asked.
"Hermione Granger." He replied, a little self-conscious.
"She's really nice, congratulations."
"Thanks. Did you get a match this year?"
"I did." She blushed. "Neville Longbottom." She looked very happy with this arrangement.
There was a knock at the door, and George went to answer it, letting Harry, Ron, and Hermione in. Hannah winked and went to go join Katie over by the stereo. George, Harry, and Ron started talking about something, but Hermione walked over to him. She was wearing a simple sundress, not unlike most of the girls there. It was reddish pink with blue embroidery - it looked like he was looking at her chest. He looked up at her instead and smiled. "Hey, glad you could make it."
"Of course, thanks for inviting me." She replied, and he was happy that they were both capable of conversation this time.
"You look really nice."
She blushed. "Thanks, I wasn't sure what to wear."
In response to her very long letter full of questions, he had told her that she could wear whatever she wanted, it was a casual party. "Well, you look great."
"Thanks. I -" She paused, looking for something to compliment. "I like your shoelaces." She giggled nervously.
He looked down, his laces were neon green and pink. "Thanks, I pride myself on my exquisite shoelaces."
She laughed, a real one this time. "I'm sure you do."
He wasn't sure how to respond to this, and they were both silent for some time. George walked by, and suddenly Hermione fell forward into him. "Are you okay?" He asked, helping her stand back up.
"Yeah, I think someone pushed me." She turned her head to look, and Fred realized that he was still holding onto her. He let her go.
"That might have been George, I'm sorry."
She looked at him. "Oh, that's not very nice."
"No, I think he was trying to help, I did the same thing when he was being awkward around Seamus last year."
"You pushed him? How does that help?"
"Seamus fell into him, discovering that his soulmate wore the most intoxicating cologne."
Hermione laughed. "That's cute. Too bad it didn't work for us."
"I mean, it's not too late, I smell incredible today." He had just showered.
She actually stepped forward and smelled him. "You do actually smell nice." She said, looking up at him. She was really close to him, and for some reason he felt like kissing her was a good idea.
A commotion behind them grabbed their attention. Ron and Dean were arguing loudly about something. Hermione strode over purposefully and pulled them apart. "Boys, don't be stupid."
They both gave her angry looks, but walked away. Fred was impressed. Hermione did not return to talk to him however, she seemed to have taken the excuse to hide in a corner with Ron and Harry.
George walked over to him and handed him a drink. "She's rather good at breaking up fights."
Fred nodded. "They didn't even try to protest."
George took a sip of his drink. "So I've got a friendly wager for you."
He grinned. "And what might that be?"
"I bet you can't get Granger to kiss you by the end of the night."
"What if I kiss her?" He asked, taking a sip. George really knew how to mix drinks.
"That either."
He looked over at her. She had her back turned to him, but Harry saw him looking over. Fred turned to his twin. "It's on."
"What were you and Dean even arguing about?" Hermione asked.
"Quidditch." He said, as if it was perfectly normal to make a scene over something so trivial.
"Of course. Bellowing like idiots over a stupid game."
"Don't let Fred hear you say that, he loves that stupid game, too."
"Will you shut up about him?" She snapped. She was already starting to regret attending this party.
Ron crossed his arms angrily. "Fine. But let me tell you, if I had found my soulmate this year, I wouldn't be angry about it."
"I'm not angry."
"You're not happy either."
"I'm sorry, I just happened to think that my soulmate might be someone I could actually see myself being with?"
Harry gave her a look, his eyes darting above her. She bit her lip, turning around to see Fred standing behind her.
"I'm sorry – this was a mistake, I need to go." She pushed through the crowd of people and out the door.
"Hermione, wait."
She turned around, against her better judgment to just apparate home. Fred closed the door behind him, and they just stood there in the quiet hall for a moment.
"I'm sorry." She said.
He walked over to her. "It's alright, I understand."
She ran her hand through her hair. "It's not that you're not-" She paused, unsure of what to say.
"It's okay. Neither of us expected this."
She nodded. "Can we just go somewhere and talk? Somewhere quiet?"
"Of course. Do you want to go to my room?"
She wasn't sure how to respond to that. Her mother had raised her to not be the kind of girl who went to guy's rooms, especially not during parties. However, given the circumstances… "I don't want everyone to see us go in there. They might get the wrong idea."
"We could apparate."
She hadn't considered that. "I'm not sure where your room is."
"Well-"
Knowing what he was trying to say, she took a step into him, and he put an arm around her. She felt a tiny flutter in her stomach, but that may have just been the feeling of apparating.
After they had apparated in, Hermione sat awkwardly on the end of his bed. Fred, unsure of what to do, leaned against the dresser in front of her. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"Well, we're supposed to be a perfect match, right?"
"Yeah." He was growing increasingly more disenchanted with the whole soulmate thing.
"But neither of us seems to be very happy about it."
He nodded. "Not particularly." From what she said she seemed exceptionally unhappy about it, not that his feelings were of joy.
She looked like she might cry, he hadn't meant upset her. He walked over and sat beside her. "I propose an experiment."
She looked up at him. "And what's that?"
While part of it was because of the bet with George, he couldn't shake the feeling he had earlier. "One kiss. If we feel nothing, we forget this ever happened."
"And if we feel something?" She asked, almost hopefully.
"Then we try and make this work, and maybe the matchmakers were right, after all." They couldn't be the first ones to doubt their match like this.
"I accept your terms." She replied with a small smile.
Fred knew what he was supposed to do then, but hesitated. She looked at him expectantly, she wasn't about to make the first move. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. She was really pretty.
Neither of them moved, just looking into each other's eyes. Hers were a soft brown, he hadn't noticed that before. She blushed and looked down. He needed to stop hesitating.
Reaching out, he gently pressed his hand on her cheek, turning her face back towards him, before leaning in slowly and pressing his lips to hers.
I hope you enjoyed! Please be sure to review and tell me what you think :)
-Zen and Sirius
