Author's Note: It's getting quiet late but I can't sleep for worry about falling over on stage tomorrow and my connection to Pokémon Go! keeps failing so I managed to write this. I hope you enjoy it! It's also for a lot of different challenges! (Sorry)
Prompts:
The North American Song Contest:
Maryland - Rainbow
Pixel Dungeon:
Quest: Write an angst/romance story
Pirate Ship:
Part 2: Fred/Hermione
Chocolate Frog Card Challenge:
Ignatia Wildsmith (Silver) - Use the floo network in your story
Hogwarts Assignments:
DADA: Write about trust between two people and only two people. Extra Prompts: (colour) red; (word) breathe; (emotion) frustration; (word) dare; (object) tissue
Monthly One-Shot Exchange:
July - Isaacswolfsbane: Fred/Hermione, Romance/Angst, (word) lovely, (dialogue) "What do you think you're doing?"
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise!
Secret
Hermione's head snapped up, her chestnut curls flying as her eyes widened in alarm. Across the room from the desk she was working at, the fire roared to life in a sickening green colour. She jumped from her seat in a frenzy, dashing to the small door that led into her little cubby and locking it. The fire through an eerie glow across the room and gloomy rainbows refracted from the crystal chandelier. Hermione fixed her eyes on the floo and pressed back against the door as if afraid someone would burst in behind her.
A tall, slender man stepped out of the flames. A wide smile painted his face as he saw Hermione. He stepped forward onto the plush, cream carpet and proceeded to shake the soot out of his bright hair.
"Fred! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hermione whisper-screeched, rushing forward and pushing the laughing ginger back onto the fireplace, desperate to save her décor from ruin.
"Well, hello dear. It's lovely to see you too," Fred replied dryly as he stopped laughing. He smirked down at Hermione as she continued to fuss, pulling a tissue from the box on her desk and wiping at the stubborn soot that was stuck to his face.
"Will you be quiet?" she hissed, throwing a worried look at the still empty room. "Ginny is only next door."
Fred sighed, his typical cheeky mood dissipating as he brushed past Hermione and flopped into one of the plush, wing backed chairs that flanked the fireplace. "So what?" he mumbled sullenly, twisting at his fingers.
Hermione sighed as she looked down at him. All the tension and fight flopped out of her shoulders and her eyes softened. She moved to stand in front of her brooding lover and placed a gentle hand on his cheek, guiding his eyes up to hers. "You know what," she reminded softly, her voice laced with weary sadness.
Fred inhaled sharply through his nose, holding the breath for a short moment before exhaling violently. It was an answer he had been given time and again, and it had lost any satisfaction, but he nodded anyway. He knew, he even understood the reasons that kept their relationships in the shadows, but he didn't have to like it.
"I just wish I could tell George, at least. I wish it didn't have to be just our secret. I wish I could come in through the front door, rather than sneaking off to use the floo all the time. I want to tell the world, Hermione." He laced his pale fingers through her delicate ones and pulled her closer. She tumbled into his lap and he wrapped his arms around her, inhaling deeply. The feel and smell of her was a comfort in itself, but it still served to increase his frustration.
"Fred," she murmured softening into him. She curled herself around his torso, hiding in his neck from the pains and responsibilities of life. "You know what Ron would do, you know how he would react."
"I never thought my happiness would be subject to the psychotic whims of my little brother, Hermione. This isn't what I signed up for," he sat back forcing her from her hiding place and meeting her soft, chocolatey eyes. "I love you," he insisted fervently, "but you know it's not in my nature to hide who and what I am. Isn't that something you love about me?"
"Of course," Hermione insisted, her heart breaking at the lost look in his eyes. "You know that I love you, and that I want to be with you where all the world can see that I am the luckiest girl in the world-"
"Well then let's go out! We could do it now, get it over with. Fast and painless, like ripping off a plaster."
Hermione giggled, though it was a sound tinged with sadness. "You know it doesn't work like that Freddie. It's only been three months; it would kill him if he knew I left him for you."
"When, Hermione?" Fred asked desperately. "When will enough time have passed?"
She didn't meet his eyes, instead fiddling with the neckline of his t-shirt. Fred scanned her face, flushed red by the dancing light of the now normal coloured flames. He didn't dare speak or move, in case he spooked her.
When she had the courage Hermione met his stare and he could see the possibility lurking there, the desire for everything that he could give her if only they could trust someone other than each other. She opened her mouth and Fred felt his heart surge, but then her eyes shifted and the light died as she whispered a subdued:
"Soon."
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Much Love, MaryandMerlin x
