Chapter 2
Unexpected consequences
She was taken by utter surprise and that was probably the key reason why she didn't push him away from herself immediately. Some part of her brain registered the audience drawing a gasp and looking shell shocked, but an other part only felt the muscular body around her. She couldn't tell why she did it, but she kissed him back.
Fred had put both of his arms on either side of her face, trapping her against the wall and his own body. His plan hadn't been very specific, just try and stay alive for as long as possible. After a few dreadful moments she seamed to relax a little bit, and to as much his as her surprise, she returned the kiss. It only took him a few seconds to verify the unexpected turn of events but he planned on making the most out of it for as long as it lasted. Boldly he grabbed her by the waist and tried to pull her closer, unfortunately the motion startled Hermione and suddenly it seamed to enter her mind what was going on. With a puzzling look she quickly pulled away. What did just happen?
Fred was left with quite a similar expression.
It only took Hermione a few moments to gather her thoughts before her emotions changed from questioning to furious.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT ISN'T IT?!" Hermione yelled at a now pretty nervous Fred. As if she was a dangerous animal which could be startled if his motions were to sudden, he slowly backed away from the angry witch, one step at the time.
"Umm... well... this isn't what it looks like Hermione... promise...I was just... um..." trying to buy himself some time before he was hexed to the end of the world, Fred had now reached the inside of the Fat Lady.
"I just remembered I definitely have an essay to write for Snape, and I really have to practice on that new spell for Flitwick..." Fred quickly mumbled just before he abruptly turned around and escaped through the portrait as fast as possible.
"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Hermione yelled and ran after him with the wand in her hand.
Laughter broke out all around the common-room, as the brown-headed, angry witch disappeared around a corner.
Hermione tried to catch her breath after the long sprint. She'd lost him somewhere in the Slytherin- dungeons and was now randomly walking around the corridors in hope of spotting him. What did just happen? Even though she tried her best not to think about it, the images came shooting back. She knew very well what was going on, but was to proud to accept it. Fred had taken advantage of her as part of a prank. Her emotions were in chaos, she felt humiliated and very, very angry and disappointed at the Weasley twin. But that wasn't all. The reason why she felt so utterly stupid was not because of the humiliation, but the fact that some remote part of herself actually had enjoyed it. With a shudder she stalked away to find Harry and Ron.
Fred gasped for air. Bloody hell that witch could run! They'd done the cat-and-mouse hunt all around the castle and it wasn't until he'd reached a secret passage in the slytherin dungeons he'd finally managed to escape. After being hiding in the tunnel for a long while he finally decided to take the risk to sneak outside. The corridor was empty. He did feel a bit odd though, he'd been sitting in there for what felt like hours. If he was correct the castle would be getting up soon. On light feet he began the trip up to the dormitories.
"That was completely wicked my dear brother!" George said after giving his twin a hive five. Lee came up and congratulated him as well.
"Nothing is ever going to beat this! People have been talking about this all night. Someone swear they saw you being hexed to pumpkin and than given to Snape, and that isn't even the worst one! Even though I'm glad that particular rumor was exaggerated." George said with a thoughtful look. Fred smacked his brother on the arm. He felt happy and content, just like he always did after a well performed dare. But some remote part of himself was feeling slightly remorseful, it hadn't been fair to Hermione. But on second part, it hadn't looked like she didn't like it, in fact, it had felt like quite the opposite. This was the first time Fred thought about previous nights events, until now he had been way to busy with just trying to stay alive. All the details and emotions slowly came back to him. In fact, he had enjoyed it quite a bit himself and when she'd pulled back he'd missed the contact. Fred shrugged and tried to forget about how good it had felt.
The days passed and a routine was forming. It basically meant that Hermione tried to get on with her life as usual, despite all the humiliating gossip that flew around the school. Fred on the other hand did his best to avoid all the public meals and people, actually only one particular girl. He had tried to forget about how it had felt to have her close to him, but truthfully he hadn't succeded. Some part of himself started to doubt if he ever would be able to go back to see her as just "Ron's friend". After thinking through the possibilites Fred finally decided to go and talk to her, for goddess sake, he couldn't spend anymore time thinking about this. They needed to clear the air. He just had to know where to find her alone, and he'd a pretty good idea where to start looking.
Later on that evening Hermione sat in the library to start an essay on Grindylogs and where to best find them. She'd just opened "Magical creatures Volume 3" when something, or someone, blocked the light. Irritated she looked up from her book only to throw herself backwards in surprise.
"You..." Hermione said with a venomous voice. She had regained her balance and stood up and pointed her finger accusingly towards Fred. He nervously gulped and shot his hands up in the air to surrender.
"Look Hermione, I come in peace, we really need to talk."
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