Fred spent the rest of the day in a sort of haze, not even George could get through to him. He kept thinking over and over again about how Hermione's kiss was the best thing he'd ever tasted. He was beginning to regret taking dating-for-real off the table. He shook his head and sighed, it didn't matter. Hermione would never actually want to date him for real. He was the opposite of everything she was. He didn't care about school or grades, he never took anything seriously and all he was looking for was a bit of fun. Sure, he'd be up for dating her but he'd never be able to promise something substantial, something that ever went somewhere. Fred wasn't going to be ready to settle down for quite a few years yet, and since the witch didn't do fun he'd only feel like he was stringing her along for his own amusement. He sighed again and George gave him a sideways glance.

"Okay Freddie, spill it," George said.

"Spill what?" Fred asked, absently staring at the floor.

"Whatever is going on in that head of yours!" George cried. "I'm guessing it's something to do with Granger."

"No!" Fred cried.

"Me thinks the man doth protest too much!" George said.

"I am not hung up on Granger," Fred snapped.

George laughed. "I never said you were mate, you said that."

Fred growled, knowing he'd basically put his foot in it.

"So, you finally ready to admit that you're hung up on Granger?" George asked.

"Would that really be so insane?" Fred murmured, looking worriedly up at his brother. "I know she's a bit of a swot and a goody-two shoes, and she's not exactly relaxed and carefree or someone who can just roll with the punches-"

"I don't know Freddie, credit where credit's due, she rolled with the punches just fine when she faced off against Umbridge," George said.

"So, you don't think I'm insane?" Fred asked.

"Mate, I think you're fucking nuts! She's Granger. She'll eat you alive." George chuckled as Fred's face fell. "But I don't think you're insane for getting so easily hung up on her. She is pretty hot, she's got a wicked tongue and a fiery temper. Her wit matches yours perfectly, and you both look at each other like an argument is foreplay. You're insane but there's nothing actually wrong with you, if you catch my drift."

Fred huffed and shuffled his feet. "She kissed me, again."

"And?" George frowned, they'd kissed plenty of times.

"We were alone, in the corridor," Fred said with an audible gulp. "She, she did it to wipe the smug smile off my face..."

George whistled. "Did it work?"

"What do you think?" Fred scoffed. "I haven't been able to get that kiss out of my head all damn day!"

"So ask her out for real," George said.

"I can't do that," Fred huffed. "She doesn't do fun, she only does serious and I can't give her serious, at least not for another three to five years. Plus, if she says no, which she will, I've then got to carry on this rather ridiculous and awkward charade so she doesn't get expelled. It's hard enough as it is now George, but trying to carry on knowing that she knows I like her..."

"I think you're shit out of luck there," George laughed. "It's obvious you're both into each other even when you aren't acting. Painfully obvious, actually."

Fred shook his head. "This witch is going to be the death of me," he grumbled.

"Yeah, probably," George said. In another eighty years or so, he thought.

Hermione spent the rest of the day with the same smug smile on her face that she'd wiped off Fred's. She sat opposite him at dinner, laughing at how put out he seemed. She was so proud of herself, it wasn't often someone could get one over on a Weasley twin.

"What's up with you?" Harry asked, frowning at Hermione. She'd been in such a good mood all afternoon and it seemed odd considering she had her detention with Umbridge in less than an hour.

"Nothing," Hermione said.

"You've been grinning like a loon since you walked into transfiguration, did something happen with Mcgonagall?" Ron said.

"No," Hermione said innocently, trying to quell a smirk.

George snorted. "I believe she found a way to wipe the smile off Fred's face." He nodded at his twin who seemed to be huffing his way through the meal.

"How'd you manage that?" Alicia frowned.

"How'd you think?" Fred muttered.

"I don't know, it is Granger. And you are notoriously difficult to ruffle," Angelina said.

Fred huffed again and looked up at the witch who'd invaded his senses and every thought in his head since she'd waltzed into Mcgonagall's classroom. He found Hermione smiling softly back at him and it threw him for a loop even more so. His eyes came to rest back on the table as he swallowed thickly.

"So what did you do?" Katie asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I gave him a taste of his own medicine."

"How?" Alicia cried, clearly upset that she wasn't privy to this piece of information.

Hermione shrugged again. "That's between us. And George."

Fred's gaze snapped up to Hermione.

"Why George?" Katie frowned.

Hermione wanted to snort but she kept it from escaping. To her, the answer was obvious. "Because they tell each other everything."

George gave her an appreciative nod. He was even more impressed that she didn't seem put out by it at all.

Angelina laughed. "Not everything..." She looked at George with a sultry sort of smile, which didn't last long when George turned a guilty shade of red and Fred started sniggering. "Everything?!"

George nodded, giving her a sheepish smile. "But then, are you going to tell me that Alicia and Katie have no idea what you're talking about?"

"That's different! We're girls! Girls are supposed to talk about stuff like that!" Angelina huffed.

"Why aren't boys?" Hermione asked. "Especially boys who've literally shared every waking moment with each other since they were born?"

"Because! I don't know...they're boys!" Angelina growled.

Hermione blinked at her. She had to know how ridiculous that sounded and that it wasn't a valid argument.

"Yeah, come on Hermione. It's a complete betrayal of trust for guys to talk about the girls they've slept with!" Alicia argued.

"Only if both parties have agreed not to tell anyone," Hermione argued back. "It's not like Angelina didn't tell you and Katie."

"That's different!" Katie cried angrily.

"How?" Hermione asked, genuinely confused.

"Yeah, how?" Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Lee and even Ginny all reiterated.

"Because we don't talk about how big your tits are or the shape of your arse. Or how tight you are or the way you screamed!" Alicia hissed. "We talk about the way you made us feel and the emotion behind it all!"

"So Angelina never mentioned how big my brother's dick was?" Ginny asked. "Only, I haven't seen it since he was about five and there's a very vivid description floating around the school. I've nearly been sick twice."

Angelina stuttered and stammered while George snickered and high-fived his little sister.

"You don't care?" Angelina asked, her own face flushed with guilt.

"Girls, that is the only difference between boy talk and girl talk. We don't give a shit when you tell all your friends. That, and we don't actually tell all our friends. I told Fred and Lee about what happened between me and Angie, but other than saying she was fucking gorgeous, I wasn't all that descriptive. Guys aren't into detail the way you lot are. At least us guys aren't." George shrugged and looked across the table at them.

"Wow, were we advocating double standards or what?" Katie muttered.

"So we were wrong. Now, what happened between you and Hermione outside transfiguration?" Alicia asked. "Seen as we're all sharing."

Hermione mimed keeping her mouth shut, George simply shook his head and sniggered while Fred stuttered a few times and shoved another sausage in his mouth.

"Shit Granger," Lee murmured, looking at the flustered twin. "I think you might have actually broken him..."

"He'll be okay. We've got detention in a bit. That'll sober him up some," Hermione said.

"I really want to know what you did to him," Katie sulked.

"Yeah, you really should share Hermione. He is our friend after all and we deserve the leverage," Alicia sighed.

Hermione did her best to hide the jealous pang that radiated from the middle of her stomach at the thought of any other girl doing what she'd done to Fred. She merely scrunched up her face in thought and looked at the charmed ceiling.

"Trust me," Fred murmured, just loud enough for the lot of them to hear, "no one could do what Hermione did."

"How do you know if we can't even try?" Alicia asked.

"Because you already have and it hasn't worked," Fred said.

"What?!" The girls squealed and all tried to start guessing what it was Hermione could have done to him that they'd possibly tried in the past. Hermione blushed and tried to quell the jealous pang-turned-dragon raging around inside of her. She was more than a little upset that the girls had had their way with Fred, and she couldn't quite work out why. Actually, that was a lie. She knew exactly why; because it was real with them and it wasn't with her.

Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head, obviously having figured it out already. Harry decided it was going to be easier to pry it out of Ginny than either of the twins or Hermione, and he was right since it was just getting to that time where Fred and Hermione had to make their way up to Umbridge's classroom. Ron was still too interested in the table and it's contents to really care all that much about what his best friend was doing with his older brother, or more precisely he was rather enjoying the reprieve of having to think about it.

Fred heaved a great sigh and stood up from the table, Hermione doing much the same. The two of them ambled along the table and towards the door before meeting at the threshold and reaching out to hold hands. George gave them both a miserable nod and watched as they left.

Hermione breathed in deeply as she walked, squeezing Fred's hand gently as he ran his thumb across her skin in an attempt to comfort her. They walked most of the way in silence, wondering what terrible punishment the witch would have for them once they reached her office.

"It's going to be okay, love," Fred murmured as they approached the door.

"It's going to have to be," she muttered back.

Fred knocked on the door and waited for the toad to answer. After hearing her high pitched tone, they pushed the door open and walked into the room. Umbridge looked at them, a wicked smile on her pursed lips.

"Ah, you two. Take a seat, please," she gestured to the desk set in front of hers. "Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, you'll both be writing lines with the quills provided."

"Where's the ink?" Fred asked.

"They fill themselves," Hermione answered darkly. She'd seen the state of Harry's hand after he got back from detention with Umbridge.

"Like muggle pens?" Fred frowned.

"If muggle pens were filled with the blood of the person writing, yes," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Fred paled.

"Prepare to feel some actual pain," Hermione muttered under her breath.

Umbridge cleared her throat as the pair sat down. "Now, Mr Weasely, you shall write I am better than this and I want it written one hundred times."

"I am better than this?" Fred was puzzled.

"Mr Weasley, you are above your reputation. You are smart, successful, and could be an incredibly powerful wizard. You are above such antics as I saw today," Umbridge explained. "You are better than some of your more recent decisions." Her piggy little eyes flickered briefly towards Hermione before landing back on him. Fred got the message, they both did. Fred was better than Hermione.

"Miss Granger, you shall write, sex is not a school subject, and I want it written twenty times." Umbridge waited for her to say something, hope in her eyes that she would. When it was apparent that she'd have no such luck, she huffed, cleared her throat and continued. "Once you have finished with your twenty lines, you shall proceed to clean all the tables and chairs in my classroom with the bucket of warm soapy water I have provided. I shall keep my office door open so I can keep an eye on you."

Both Hermione and Fred nodded, each of them picking up their quills and looking to Umbridge for instruction.

She gave them a twisted little smile. "You may begin."

Hermione started scratching her quill across the page, feeling the sharp sting of the words as they etched themselves into her skin. As she finished her first line she looked across the desk towards Fred. He was frowning but didn't seem to be in any real pain. Maybe his quill didn't do what hers did, maybe Umbridge didn't want to spill the blood of a pureblood. She began her second line, her eyes flicking down on her hand that was slowly starting to bleed. It was then she realised how sick and twisted the woman sat opposite them was.

Hermione's hand stung as Fred continued to write. I am better than this scratching it's way onto her skin, not his. She felt tears pool in the back of her eyes as he was forced to etch those words into her hand, against his knowledge too. Hermione took a deep breath and scribbled her own lines as fast as she could, just to get out of the same room as Fred in the hopes that he wouldn't see. After two more minutes, Hermione got quickly to her feet, hiding her bloody hand in her robes as she crossed the space towards Umbridge.

"I'm finished with my lines. Please could I start cleaning the classroom now?" she asked.

Umbridge grinned, loving how the little mudblood was asking permission to clean. "You may."

Hermione nodded and fled into the classroom, taking a deep breath as her hand continued to throb with pain. It was then she understood the cleaning of the classroom. Soapy suds on a fresh cut that just kept getting deeper...the woman was a sadist. Hermione did her best to clear her mind of the pain and think of something better, something distracting. The only thing she could come up with was to re-live the few kisses she'd shared with Fred in the last two days. Nothing else seemed to take her mind off the pain.

She tried thinking of school, of her homework and what she wanted to write in each of her essays but she found herself almost screaming out in agony after a few minutes. The memory of Fred's kisses, if she let herself really sink deep into them, made her actually smile despite the pain she was in. She was torn between letting herself go there and fighting against the hurt, not wanting to confuse her already frazzled brain.

She liked Fred, a lot. She'd have more with him if he'd only be willing to give it. She didn't want to linger on what she'd already shared with him, it was too much, but one look at the stony, infuriated face of the pink toad after seeing her smile like a loon, practically made her mind up. She spent the rest of detention dreaming about Fred and his kisses, and occasionally other things he could do to her if they ever got that far, which she doubted they would.

"Hermione?" Fred called, frowning at the witch and the dreamy look in her eye. Her smile was soft but alluring, the kind of smile that made Fred yearn to know what she'd been thinking about. "Hermione?"

"Huh?" Hermione snapped out of her daze and looked up at him. She blinked slowly and then turned to Umbridge.

"You are free to go Miss Granger," Umbridge snarled through gritted teeth.

"I'm not sure she's very happy that you seemed to be enjoying detention as much as it looks like you did," Fred said with a smirk.

"Good," Hermione said, dropping the sponge back in the bucket and quickly hiding her hand back in her robe.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Fred said, holding his hand out to her.

Hermione nodded but didn't take his offered hand, instead she walked around him and out the door. Fred frowned but followed anyway, wondering what was wrong with her. Considering what he'd been told to expect from Umbridge's detentions, they'd got off pretty light, or so he thought.

"Hermione?" Fred called, coming to walk beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked, offering her his hand again.

Hermione cursed him. It was the wrong bloody hand, and it would be way to suspicious to walk around him again and take his other hand instead.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just tired and...you know, we aren't really supposed to be holding hands on school property. Educational Decree number five thousand and eight, students aren't to be within one hundred feet of each other, or something to that effect," Hermione said, trying to sound sarcastic and witty but instead sounding pained.

"Okay..." Fred said, not really buying into it. After a small silence he started talking again. "So, that wasn't quite as bad as I thought it'd be. Especially after what you said about her quills. Where d'you hear that from anyway?"

"Harry," Hermione said.

"Oh, well, we must have had different ones," Fred said with a shrug.

"Mmmm," Hermione said. The pain in her hand was now so intense she wasn't sure she could speak without wincing. Gritting her teeth was about the only thing stopping her from crying. She didn't want Fred to see. She didn't want to put him through that.

"Okay love, what's going on?" Fred said, pulling her to a stop.

"Nothing," she said, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

Fred was too quick and too clever. Before Hermione even had chance to carry on moving, he'd grabbed hold of both her forearms and pulled them up towards him, his eyes trained on her hands. Hermione twisted them with all her might but he was too strong for her and she knew the minute he'd seen what was written there because his whole body went rigid, his face was pale and he looked like he was going to be sick.

"Hermione..." he whispered, gaping at her bloody hand.

"Fred..." Hermione answered, looking pleadingly at him.

"I did that," he said. "I wrote that. Those are my words, in my handwriting..."

Hermione shook her head fiercely. "No," she said firmly. "No!" she yelled again, stomping her foot and forcing Fred to look at her.

"Hermione...I did this," he murmured, his eyes so full of pain and regret as he gently shook her scratched up hand.

"No Fred, you didn't. Umbridge did. You didn't do anything. You didn't even know!" Hermione said, tears streaming down her face now.

"Why wouldn't you tell me? Why on earth did you let me carry on and write this one hundred times?!" Fred asked, looking at her in anguish.

"Because I wasn't going to let her win," Hermione hissed darkly, her eyes blazing.

"Let her win? Hermione, you're bleeding. You're hurting. This isn't normal, this is abuse!" Fred cried. "We need to tell someone about this. We need to go to Mcgonagall."

"No!" Hermione said. "I don't want to go to anyone! I don't want her to think she successfully intimidated me! She's fucking psychotic, she'll have an answer for everything and she'll say we made it the fuck up!"

"This is wrong!" Fred roared.

"I know!" Hermione screamed back. She took in a great hulking deep breath and tried to calm herself. She thought of Fred's lips on hers and suddenly the pain was gone and she could breathe again, just long enough to think clearly. "I'm sorry Fred. I'm sorry I didn't say anything, but it wouldn't have changed anything and I didn't want you to know what you were doing, I didn't want you to know what happened at all."

"She forced me to hurt you without my knowledge. My words, my handwriting..." Fred lifted her hand and stared at it again. "I'm better than this." He scrunched his face up in disgust and looked away. Hermione finally understood his complete revulsion.

"Fred, I know the words meant nothing to you-"

"She made me carve that into your skin so that every time I see it, I'm reminded of your blood status and mine. I'm reminded that too many people in this world believe that I am better than you, and for an hour tonight, I was forced to comply with that opinion and write it a hundred times as if it should be my own," Fred said, his voice deep and dark and so full of hate. "You have no idea how much I loathe myself right now..."

Hermione shook her head exasperatedly, tears coming to her eyes. "No, Fred. No..." She sobbed softly. "That's exactly what I didn't want."

"Well, it's all I've got," Fred sighed.

"I'm sorry Fred," Hermione sniffled.

"Sorry?!" Fred looked horrified. "Hermione, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. I was the one who hurt you."

Hermione shook her head again. "Umbridge hurt me. Not you. You saw me through the pain."

"What?" Fred frowned.

"Remember? Umbridge was furious because I looked like I was enjoying myself?" Hermione said, not really wanting to tell Fred what she'd been thinking of, but most certainly not wanting him to feel so at blame. "I'm not a masochist Fred. I don't enjoy pain."

"What were you smiling about then?" he asked.

"I was...well...look, I'll tell you if you promise not to let it go to your head," Hermione said quickly.

"Me? You were smiling about me?" Fred smirked, momentarily forgetting about her hand. "Too late love, if that's the case it's already gone straight to my head."

Hermione sighed. "I was reimagining the kisses we've shared. Specifically the first two and the last one."

"Hmmm," Fred said, holding her gaze and absorbed in thought.

Hermione squeaked as Fred swiftly stepped into her, wrapping both his arms around her waist and pulling her flush against him. His lips were on hers before she could protest and it felt wonderful. If dreaming about this was enough to have subsided the pain, actually experiencing it was enough to get rid of it all together. Hermione felt the wound on her hand begin to warm pleasantly, an odd sensation given that it was causing her so much pain not two minutes ago. She broke away from Fred for just a moment, frowning down at her hand, and gasped.

The words on her hand were glowing, healing. Fred's own hand hovered above it and he smiled softly as she brought her eyes back up to meet his. Hermione was in awe.

"I can't make the words disappear..." he murmured. "The quill was obviously made with dark magic. But I can stop the pain and get rid of the worst of it."

"Fred, that's incredible," Hermione whispered, her wide brown eyes fixed on his.

"It's not, not really," he mumbled. His eyes searched hers as he blushed at her compliment. "Me and George had to learn a few decent healing spells, or we'd have been in the hospital wing most days and Madam Pomfrey would have reported us by now."

Hermione giggled softly, not wanting to ruin the moment. "Yes, I can see how that might put a dampener on things."

Fred leant in and captured her lips once again, quick and gentle. "I'm sorry Hermione. I'm so sorry..."

"I don't blame you," she said, her now healed hand coming to rest on his face, her thumb stroking along his cheekbone. "I thank you. For not ditching me and leaving me to the mercy of that witch, for sticking with me and trying to see this thing through, for being so patient with every hang up I've had in the last forty-eight hours...Fred, you've been amazing."

Fred surged back towards her, his arms wrapping themselves back around her body as his lips crashed back into hers. There was no quick and gentle about it this time, he ravished her. His hands found her arse again as her hands tangled in his hair, tugging tufts of it as their lips and tongues and teeth smashed together wildly. Hermione had never been kissed like this before in her life, and Fred had never kissed a girl the way he was kissing her. His hands squeezed her perfectly shaped backside and she groaned like she had done earlier that day, driving Fred into a frenzy.

With zero thought, he used the firm grip he had on her to lift her up and was beyond relieved to feel Hermione wrap her legs around him with absolutely no prompting neccesary. Not a moment later and Fred had walked the two paces it took to push Hermione against the wall, freeing his hands up for more exciting adventures. He ran his fingers through her hair and did a little tugging of his own, eliciting several moans from the devious little witch pressing into him. His mouth left hers and trailed hot and blazing kisses along her jaw and down her neck. Hermione whimpered as he caught her collarbone, burying her face in his shoulder and gently biting down to stop herself from making anymore noise.

Fred's hands took a wonder down her arms and found themselves at her waist, desperately wanting to feel the warmth of her skin beneath them. He tugged at her shirt, freeing it from the waistband of her skirt, and slipped his hand inside, running his fingers along the smooth skin of her stomach. He kissed his way back to her lips, his touch becoming softer and his movements slower and more intentional. It gave Hermione time for her mind to slow down and her brain to kick in again. Just as Fred's fingers skimmed the skin just below her bra, she finally woke up.

Hermione gasped and pulled back, well aware that her legs were still wrapped around Fred's waist. Fred seemed to sense that something was up, he could feel her tension beginning to leak back into her body and he sighed. He closed his eyes and leant his forehead against hers, breathing deeply, his hands still under her shirt and holding her firmly around her ribs.

"Fred..." she whispered, her hands losing their grip and relaxing in his hair.

"I know. Just give me a minute love, yeah?" he murmured, his voice pleading.

Hermione nodded slightly, her hands falling from his head and onto his shoulders. She waited for him to calm, feeling nothing but disappointment when he set her feet back down on the ground and slipped his hands out from under her shirt.

"Sorry...I got a bit carried away," he said quietly, a deep red blush staining his cheeks.

Hermione shrugged. "I did too..."

"Yeah, but you came to your senses a whole lot faster," Fred sighed. He ran his hands down his face and shook his head.

"There's a reason for that," she mumbled, closing her eyes in embarrassment. She came to her senses because she'd never been any further than that before, and the new sensation of having someone else's hands so close to her breasts jerked her brain back into play. Mainly because they were in a corridor, if she was being completely honest.

"I know. It's because you're smart and you don't let yourself get swept up in your emotions," Fred said.

"Actually, it's not..." Hermione said, her own cheeks now the colour of Fred's as she forced her eyes up to meet his. "It's because the furthest I've ever been before now, was a few heated kisses in an empty classroom..."

Fred blinked. He could not have heard that right. "Pardon...?"

"I, uh, have zero experience...I've never been with a guy the way I have with you..." She cringed at that and huffed a little bit. "I mean, not that we've done all that much, I know, but...I just...my brain kicked back in because...well...your hands...sort of like a rush of cold air...oh Merlin I'm rambling now-"

"Hermione stop talking," Fred said abruptly. There was a fanfare going on in his head at that moment and he wasn't sure what to do about it. "Merlin you drive me fucking crazy!"

"Oh..." She cleared her throat, ignoring the sting and the lump that was forming there. "Sorry..."

Fred laughed, the biggest smile on his face he'd ever had. "Shit Hermione, do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"

"Um...no, not really?" She frowned at him, wondering what the hell was going on in his head.

He shook his head. "Will you date me? For real?"

"What?" Hermione blanched, completely thrown.

"I am so into you it's insane. It's driving me insane. I am all types of hung up on you. I can't stop thinking about you, about the way you feel against me, about the way your lips taste on mine, about the way nothing has felt more right than when you're in my arms," he explained.

"But Fred, you don't do serious," she said.

"I want to do serious with you," he said, his eyes searching hers and his voice so sincere she couldn't have doubted it.

"What do you mean by serious? Like, you wouldn't be looking to break up any time soon or-"

"Serious like it would mean something," Fred said. "I mean, honestly, it's you. It's always meant something. I can't keep pretending like I'm pretending..."

Hermione took in a deep breath and looked up at Fred. His eyes bore into her own, so completely vulnerable. Her heart had melted with his words and she wasn't sure she could have refused him even if she wanted to. She'd only been pretending with Fred for two days and already she could feel that she was falling for him.

"Fred, it's always meant something for me, too," Hermione murmured. "I don't think I can keep on pretending I'm pretending either."

"So you'll be my girlfriend? My real girlfriend?" Fred asked, his eyes twinkling with hope and a small excited smile on his lips.

Hermione nodded, smiling herself. "Yeah, I'll be your real girlfriend."

Fred grinned and captured her lips with his own. The kiss only lasted a minute but it was the best one yet. It was the kiss that meant the most, the first real kiss between them, the kiss that promised a hundred more and more again.

Sorry it took a while, again. Thank you for all the reads, reviews, follows and favourites! You guys make it all worth it :) Hope this was a good instalment, there were a few parts I wasn't happy with (mainly quality of writing as opposed to plot)...anyway, till next time :)