1A Series of Fortunate Events

Chapter Three: The Geek

Ginny was disappointed that Ron had set Hermione up with such a dud. She decided to never go to him again and instead she would pick out Hermione's next date. Meanwhile Hermione was trying to think of an excuse to get out of the date and Fred was ignoring George's advice ("Just come out and tell her you git.") and was trying to think of a way to sabotage the next date. Harry was doing his best to stay out of the whole "find Hermione her soul mate plan".

It was the Wednesday after Hermione's first horrendous date and she was using her free period to grade essays written by the fourth years. There was a knock at her door and she smiled when she looked up and saw Harry.

"Hello Harry. How are you?" Hermione smiled while Harry took a seat on the edge of her desk.

"I'm good-busy with the Bogart that I set up for the third years."

"Bogarts are quite annoying. I'm just grading the essays that I assigned the fourth years."

"Oh...so I heard your date was pretty bad."

Hermione laughed, "I'm still trying to get past it. The guy was such a perv and quite possibly the most egotistical prat I've ever met."

"Yeah that's the impression Ginny gave me. Ron swears he had no idea though."

Hermione nodded, "Yeah he told me that he never spent any time with him outside of practice and stuff."

"Ron also told me that Fred sent him a pretty nasty hex."

Hermione blushed, "I did not tell him to do that. Fred did that all on his own accord."

Harry laughed, "I'm not blaming you. I just never knew how protective Fred was."

Hermione glanced to the side, she had never even told Harry about what happened that night in the attic, "He was just being a good friend."

"Never knew you guys were that close."

"Well, you know...the war kinda brought everyone together. And we've known Fred for years."

"True. Well, anyway are you excited for your next date?" Harry grinned. He loved to tease Hermione.

Hermione scowled, "I'm trying to think of a way out of it as we speak."

Harry howled with laughter, "I thought as much."

"Do you know who Ginny's set me up with?"

"Don't look at me I'm trying to stay out of this whole mess. Personally, I think you can get a date perfectly fine on your own."

Hermione smiled, "Yeah that's what Fred said."

"It's true. You don't need any help- you're smart, sweet, incredibly good looking."

Hermione couldn't help but blush, "I wish I was as confident in myself as you and Fred are."

Harry patted Hermione's shoulder, "You just need to be more relaxed I think. You never tried to impress me and Ron and we get along great."

Hermione sighed, "Yeah I just wish I could be like that with a guy who's not you or Ron."

Harry shrugged, "You seem pretty comfortable with Fred."

Hermione looked up at him in shock, "What does that mean?"

"I was just trying to show you that you can be relaxed around guys who aren't me or Ron."

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were insinuating that there was something going on with me and Fred."

"Is there?" Harry teased.

Hermione scowled once more, "There most certainly isn't."

Harry got up and started to make his way to the door, "I don't know why you're getting so defensive. I think you two would be pretty good together." Harry turned back to Hermione and winked as Hermione flicked a book at him with her wand.

Hermione shook her head as she thought about the last part of her and Harry's conversation. Does he really think we would be a couple, she thought to herself, no he just wanted to ruffle my feathers. Fred and I are just about as completely opposite as you can get...right? Although he has grown up a lot and I've relaxed quite a bit. Hermione shook her head, no that would never work out.

Fred decided to send Hermione a letter asking her how the week was going. And at the end he threw in a quick question about the future date. He didn't want to seem like he was too interested even though he was interested, kind of... but only as a friend. Much to his surprise he received a response that night and there wasn't a single question about why he was so interested in her date. She was going to be meeting this one at a café in Hogsmeade. All Ginny told her was that he was in school to be a Healer and he was her friend's older brother. Hermione even put that she was a little sad that this date wouldn't be in The Three Broomsticks because she wouldn't be able to call Fred if the date went sour. Fred sat on his bed reading the letter a second time. Hm, maybe she does like me, he thought, after all she did write that she's sad that this next date won't be at the same place and that's only cause I won't be there. Nah, he shook his head, what would Hermione ever see in me, what would I ever see in her? We would never work out.

Another Saturday quickly came and with it another blind date. At least this time it was in Hogsmeade and Hogwarts was having a Hogsmeade trip. If Hermione had to bail she could always use the excuse that she had to look after one of the students. Hermione found the café quite easily it had a bright exterior and a lovely aroma coming from the windows. Hermione figured if nothing else she would at least have some good food. She arrived early of course and decided to take a seat by the windows. A couple minutes passed by and in walked a guy who was about the same height as Harry, with very light colored hair and a pair of glasses. He was cute but nothing compared to Adam. He had a large bag with him and Hermione could see a variety of books poking out of them. She even managed to read a little bit of the title on the one Creepy Fungi Wh... Hermione figured this had to be him and she held up her hand and waved a little. The guy squinted a bit to see who was waving and walked over, "Are you Miss Hermione Granger?"

"Yes, you must be George. It's lovely to meet you." Hermione felt so weird going on a date with a guy named George. Every time she thought of that name she automatically thought of Fred.

"It's quite the honor to meet you, I've heard all about you from my sister."

"Oh yes Ginny told me you were friend's older brother but she didn't say who."

"I'm Luna's older brother." Hermione couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by this knowledge. She wasn't extremely fond of Luna and she knew all about her father so she had a hard time believing that her brother would be any different.

"Oh, Luna's very gifted."

"Yes, my father is very proud of her. I think he's actually a bit disappointed in my career choice actually."

"Why would that be? Not everyone can be Healer it requires a great deal of skill and knowledge not to mention good people skills."

George smiled, "I keep trying to tell him that but he keeps on insisting that I should use my talents for things that matter-like the leopluradon."

Hermione laughed, "They don't even exist."

George laughed, "I keep trying to tell him that. Well, enough about me I would love to know more about you."

"Oh, well there's not much to know. I'm a professor at Hogwarts, I love to read and I hate flying."

"Really? I hate flying too."

"That's so weird-I was really beginning to think that I was the only one in the world who did." Hermione was pleasantly surprised by how well this date was going. She never would have guessed that Luna's older brother could be so normal.

"Yeah, I see no use for frivolous activities like Quidditch and such." George continued.

"Oh, well I kind of like Quidditch. I mean I'm not obsessed like Ginny and her brothers or Harry but I think it's fun to watch."

"But you don't get anything out of it. It's not a like a book, you can't learn anything from it."

"Well, I suppose that's true but it's not like we spend all of our time hoping to learn. There are more important things."

"I would have to disagree with that. Learning is the most important thing a person can do."

Hermione couldn't help but make a face, "Friendship and loyalty and bravery are far more important than learning. What would you do if you didn't have people you love and people who love you?"

"People leave, knowledge doesn't." George picked up his bag, "I'm sorry that you are a professor at Hogwarts, since you obviously don't value knowledge."

Hermione was completely taken back by this statement, no one had ever doubted her value of learning and books. Before she had the chance to say anything in walked the one and only Fred Weasley.

"Oi, Hermione!" Fred waved happily.

"Hi Fred!" Hermione greeted turning from George who was still waiting for some sort of response.

Fred walked over to their table and plopped into the empty seat, "Hello, I'm Fred." Fred held out his hand.

George stared at it without ever shaking it, "I'm George."

Fred burst out laughing and George was completely offended, "What's so funny."

"Oh nothing, nothing. It's just that my twin brother is named George." he turned to Hermione, "You never told me you were going out on a date with a George."

Hermione chuckled, "I just found out."

"Hold on, you're Fred Weasley aren't you?" George turned to him.

"The one and only." Fred stood up and bowed causing Hermione to giggle.

George's face turned a deep shade of red, "You don't even know who I am do you?" he spat.

Fred looked at him closely and then turned to Hermione who shrugged, "Should I know you?"

"You and your prat of a brother hexed my books one night in the library and all the writing in them disappeared. It took me ages to find a counter-spell for it, I nearly failed my exam because I had nothing to study from."

"Oh, well that's possible we pranked a lot of people." Fred casually shrugged, "It's hard to keep track of them all."

George turned angrily to Hermione, "If you spend your time with people like this you are obviously not worth my time."

This time Hermione was not at a loss for words, "I would rather spend my time with friends then with geeks who would rather be studying." she called out as George opened the front door.

"Yeah I bet you've never even been kissed." Fred called out.

Hermione and Fred started to laugh but Hermione quickly regained her composure, "We were rather mean."

"Meh, the guy is a pompous ass."

"That's for sure. He told me that he was sorry for Hogwarts that I was professor since I obviously do not value knowledge."

Fred's mouth dropped open, "What? He obviously had you confused with someone else."

Hermione filled Fred in on what had lead to that comment and how he is Luna's brother ("That says it all." Fred muttered). "I'm a bit disappointed that this one was even worse than the last one. We didn't even get the chance to order."

"Well, I could be your replacement date, if you would like?" Fred offered.

"That would be great." Hermione smiled, "What are you doing here anyway?"

Fred shrugged, "I came to check on the shop and you said you were going to be here and once I knew that Ginny had set you up I thought I should pop by to see how everything was going."

Hermione raised her eyebrow suspiciously, "Lucky for me you were here again."

Fred shrugged, "Well I was going to be in the area, why not stop by and see my favorite girl?" he winked.

Hermione blushed but before she could say anything the waiter came over to take their order. While waiting for the food Hermione and Fred chatted about the shop and George's hunt for an apartment. Little did they know someone was outside watching them. Harry had decided to stop by and make sure everything was going well, right before he opened the front door he happened to see a pretty brunette and a handsome red head sitting at a table together. Upon closer examination he discovered that it was in fact Hermione and Fred. And even more shocking was that they seemed to be having a really good time: they were both laughing and Fred offered Hermione a bite of his food, which she accepted. Harry stood outside the café in shock, am I missing something? Why are Fred and Hermione at the café together, where's her date? And more importantly why do they seem to be having such a good time?

Meanwhile, Hermione and Fred continued to have a great time without ever noticing that they were being watched. After about an hour they finished their lunch and were having some tea. Hermione couldn't believe what a great time she was having and Fred was heaven. The two of them reminisced about their school days and all the adventures they went on. They even had an in-depth conversation about Quidditch. After tea Hermione looked at her watch and realized how late it was, "Oh, I didn't realize what time it was I should really get going."

"Ok, I'll walk you back." Fred got up and offered Hermione his arm.

Hermione giggled and took his arm, "That's very nice of you."

"Anything for you, kiddo." Fred winked as they walked out of the café.

"So, can you still help me move everything in tomorrow?" Fred asked.

"Of course, what time should I come over?"

"Whenever, you get up." Fred shrugged casually, "Of course you'll probably have to drag me out of bed once you get there." he threw in wink.

Hermione shook her head, "Lucky me."

The couple caught up with the rest of the Hogwarts gang and Harry doubled over in shock. He nudged Ginny who was equally shocked. All the students started buzzing about Hermione and if that cute red-head was her boyfriend. Fred and Hermione were completely oblivious to everyone's reaction they were just enjoying each other's conversation. Hermione gave him a hug and joined the Hogwarts group. Fred decided to be daring and gave her a kiss on the cheek while they were still hugging. Hermione wasn't sure how to react to that so she smiled and gave him another tight hug.

The whole ride back to Hogwarts Harry and Ginny tried to interrogate Hermione without being too obvious.

"So, I'm guessing the date didn't go too well?" Ginny said frowning.

"It started out great actually but then we got into this absurd argument. And he basically said I don't value knowledge because I think friendship and loyalty and bravery are more important than books. And then Fred came...and actually made things worse." Hermione laughed, "He asked George his name and when he replied Fred burst out laughing and George got all huffy and asked what was so funny. Fred explained that his twin was named George and then George got even angrier when he realized that Fred was Fred Weasley. Apparently Fred and George pulled a prank on him and it pissed him off. Then George stormed off and said something along the lines of if I spend time with people like Fred and George then I'm not worth his time."

Harry and Ginny were wide-eyed, "What an ass!"

"Yeah he really was, I was disappointed. But at least Fred showed up and I didn't have to eat by myself."

"Why was Fred here anyway?" Ginny asked.

Hermione shrugged, "He was looking at the store and since he knew how bad the last date was he thought he would stop by and make sure everything was alright."

"Oh, that was nice of him." Ginny said

Hermione shrugged, "He's a nice guy."

"I suppose."

Hermione laughed, "Ginny he's your brother. And aren't him and George your favorites?"

"And Bill." Ginny added, "I'm just saying he's usually not that nice. I mean he's a good friend and all but I never realized what good friends you and him were."

Hermione shook her head, "I don't get why people are so shocked by that."

Ginny raised her eyebrow, "Well, um you guys don't exactly have any of the same interests or anything. You're scholarly and serious and focused and Fred is well the opposite of all of those things."

"I don't think that's true, I think Fred is very focused and goal-oriented, look at all the stuff him and George have done with the shop."

Ginny shrugged, "That's true. Oh well, enough about Fred we need to find you another date."

Hermione rolled her eyes and caught Harry's eye who just smirked and shrugged. Ginny may have brushed Fred off but Harry wasn't so quick. The whole way back to Hogwarts he kept picturing the two of them in the café and how happy they both looked. Harry was definitely going to keep a close eye on them.

So things are progressing for Fred and Hermione, but I'm kind of mean and I like to drag things out a bit, kind of like a romantic comedy. Yes, that's it. This is exactly like a romantic comedy, so be prepared for some complications...complications that will arise in the very near future. But don't loose hope, this is a Fred and Hermione fan fic after all.