Moment 2: Confusion

Fred spent the next couple of days in a state of complete confusion. Hermione wasn't the first girl he had liked; he was 16 after all. Unlike his younger brother, Fred had started to notice girls some time ago, and while he didn't make a big song and dance about it, he had spent some time "getting to know" a couple of his co-ed classmates. There had been the Ravenclaw girl his year who he had spent a couple of evenings "getting to know" in the third-floor broom closet, and he and Angelina had spent some time together in the change rooms after a couple of Quidditch matches when they had both felt like it. There had even been an embarrassing incident involving the portrait of a much young and hotter McGonagall that he and George would never speak of.

None of those girls put his mind in this much turmoil. He felt like Hermione was occupying every single spare part of his mind. He had been distracted to the point of nearly destroying three of his and George's final prototypes, and George had banned him from touching any more of their products for the foreseeable future.

As they walked to their portkey to the Quidditch World Cup, Fred felt George watching him out of the corner of his eye. After he stumbled for the third time walking in a straight line on the almost flat ground which, even he had to admit, was somewhat of a feat, George grabbed his arm and dragged him to halt.

"Fred, what the hell is wrong with you? You've been as uncoordinated as a gnome all week, and you've been about as switched on as Ron."

Fred felt his cheeks turn red. He wasn't about to tell George that he seemed to have lost the ability to walk because he had been paying more attention to how good Hermione's butt looked her jeans rather than concentrating on his own feet. He quickly looked up to see how far away the rest of the group was before he answered and as Fred did he noticed that Hermione was looking back at them with a concerned looked on her face. He couldn't help it; he flashed her a wide grin. She's worried about me! He thought gleefully. She smiled in return and turned back to catch up with the others. He then noticed that she was walking slightly more slowly than usual and he swore that her hips didn't usually swing like that.

George brought him back to reality with a quick slap on the back of his head. He asked incredulously "You have to be kidding me. You're into Granger?"

Fred couldn't quite bring himself to look at his twin and instead focused on a clump of dirt near his right sneaker. "How obvious is it?"

George, on the other hand, was somewhat happy that Fred couldn't look at him because he had a feeling that if he did, Fred would have knocked his massive smile off his face. Using a disproportionate amount of effort George managed to rearrange his face, just before Fred quickly looked at him and then he went back to examining the clump of dirt.

"To me, it's pretty freaking clear that something is up. I don't reckon anyone else would have noticed. Mum might start asking questions if you don't start eating more. But Dad is always at work, Perce is so far up his arse that he won't notice anything that doesn't directly relate to him, and Ron, well, let's just say that unless you start dancing around naked and singing it from the rooftop, he won't ever figure it out." George sighed, "Come on, we have to start walking again otherwise we'll miss the bleeding Quidditch World Cup Final because you're moaning about a girl. Just don't turn into Ginny! I think I'll barf if I have to start hearing about the amazing shape and shade of Mioney's eyes, and if you even think about writing her poetry you will have to test all of our products for the rest of the year!"

Fred couldn't help but laugh and answer "Deal!"

When they finally reached the campground, Fred was exasperated. His Dad was mental. It was apparent to everyone that Harry had never been camping before and was seriously struggling to put up the tent. His Dad's overexcited efforts to help seemed to be undoing any of the scant progress Harry was making. Fred confirmed it when he pulled Harry aside and asked, "Harry, have you ever even gone camping before?"

Harry looked slightly guilty, as he answered, "No. My aunt and uncle aren't exactly the camping sort. To be honest, I've never even been in a tent, let alone put one up. I think we're screwed."

Fred looked around for Hermione who he found sitting by the fire that she and Ginny were setting up. It seemed like she knew what she was doing because he knew that Ginny had no idea. The Weasley's had about the same amount of camping experience as Harry – absolutely none. He walked over to the girls, crouched down right next to Hermione and said "Hey Mioney, help a man out. I don't want to sleep under the stars tonight, and that's how we will be sleeping if someone doesn't help Harry, the boy who can't put up a tent. Please tell me you have been camping before?"

Hermione couldn't help but give him a small smile and giggled as she looked over to see Mr. Weasley accidentally hitting Harry with a tent pole. "I have, but your Dad looks like he is having so fun, I can't possibly bring myself to help."

"Plus she finds watching Harry struggle this much fun. And she's right", Ginny added with a huge smile on her face.

"Well if you enjoy this you should see him in Potions Ginny, it's hilarious." Hermione couldn't help herself, "While Harry is great at Quidditch, defensive spells, and you know, that whole he who cannot be named thing, he really cannot mix a potion to save himself. It's genuinely funny to watch him. And besides that, I'm on holiday I want to relax, not help Harry through another arduous task."

Fred, having the one-track mind that teenage boys do, only managed to take one thing in from her sentence. He looked at Hermione, with a slightly shocked look on his face "You watch Harry in potions? Granger, do you watch Harry at other times too? Maybe in the shower or getting changed into his PJs?"

Ginny scoffed "No Fred; there is someone else that Mioney would like to watch in the shower isn't there Mioney?"

Hermione blushed deeply and quickly. Fred didn't even realise that she could turn that colour and that promptly. Hermione shoved Ginny, and Fred noticed that her voice was a lot higher than average as she said "No Fred, I do not watch Harry in the shower. Nor do I ever want to. Ugh no. Ginny on the hand…"

Ginny who had turned slightly red as well, pushed Hermione to try to shut her up, but Hermione was too balanced to fall and just smirked back at Ginny.

Fred realised that trying to get Hermione to help by teasing Harry wasn't going to work, so he figured the next best thing was pleading. "Please Hermione? We need your help?"

Ginny snorted, "That's not going to work Fred. That's all she ever hears from Ron and Harry during exams."

Hermione shot her friend an amused look. "Fred, what I don't understand is: what is in this for me? Your Dad and Harry will hopefully figure out your tent eventually, and I can set up mine and Ginny's if I need to."

Fred had noticed the smirk on her face. She was teasing him, and they both knew that she would have eventually helped with the tents anyway. "How about you consider it a favour to yours truly?"

"Any favour?" came the quick response.

"Any favour at all of your choosing" Fred quickly countered.

"Any time and anything I want?" asked Hermione.

When Fred looked at her, he realised that he had never seen this particularly sly look on her face before. He almost regretted his offer but decided that she couldn't be that devious. "Yes and yes. Hermione Jean Granger do we have a deal?"

"Yes" came the swift reply from Hermione.

"Shake on it?" Fred held out his hand to her, and Hermione countered with hers. They shook hands and stared each other down. Fred was used to this sort of combative handshake, but what he wasn't used to or expecting was the feeling of Hermione's fingers softly stroking the inside of his palm. The action sent a shiver up his spine and, he felt his cheeks turn red. Suddenly he was looking forward finding out what favour she might want from him.

With a small smile, she looked at Fred and Ginny and noticed that the former was smiling at her with a slightly predatory grin and the latter with a smirk. "Hmm, maybe I should go and help Harry. It might be safer than staying here after all," and with a wink Fred, she was up and gone to help Harry set up the tent.