After unpacking her things into the second room, Hermione and Fred were at a bit of a loss as to what to do. By that point it was late afternoon. Hermione went through the cupboards until she found fixings for pasta and she whipped up a late lunch for three people, telling Fred he should invite George up for lunch.
Fred went down to the shop and spotted Verity behind the counter. "Hey," he said, "where's George?"
"Back room," she replied. She asked the next customer to step forward and began ringing up their purchase.
"Have you had lunch yet?" Fred asked her.
"About an hour ago," she told him. "George hasn't breaked since morning, though."
Fred saw humour in that he often did the same thing when George wasn't at work. They worked doubly as hard when the other wasn't there and snacked throughout the day rather than stopping to take a proper lunch break.
"Alright." He nodded and began to head to the back.
"Oh, congratulations!" Verity called after him as he headed into the back.
"Thanks," he said. He slipped through the open door into the wide storage/experimental space. "Georgie," he greeted with a grin. "Are you hungry?"
George turned from the workbench and clapped his brother's arm affectionately. "Hey, Forge, I missed you."
Fred laughed.
"I was going to stop by this morning," George continued. "Didn't think your wife would appreciate it much though."
Fred had to admit that the sound of 'his wife' was still very foreign to his ears. Hermione. His wife, Hermione. It was strange. Hermione Weasley? They'd never discussed it; he wondered if she planned to take his surname.
"So, how was last night?" George asked impishly. He caught the look on his twin's face and his expression drew together in concern. "What happened?"
Fred held up his left hand with the still shining silver band.
"What happened?" George repeated. "Fred, the ministry—"
"Gave us forty-eight hours," Fred finished easily. "We have until late tomorrow."
George turned on his stool to face his brother. "Why put it off?" he inquired carefully.
Fred sighed. "She's nervous," he phrased.
His brother raised an eyebrow. "Nervous," he repeated.
Fred nodded, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah. To tell you the truth, I'm kind of nervous as well." George looked confused. "It's Hermione," Fred elaborated. "I...she just...it's intimidating."
George laughed then. "Freddie," he said, "don't tell me you're scared of your wife."
"Not scared," Fred protested firmly. "But, you know, I want to do everything...right with her." He sighed. He sounded like a fourteen year old schoolboy
George spun back to the boxes he was marking and scribbled a note on one of them. "Good luck with that," he said. "Where is the missus anyway?"
Fred shook his head. "Hermione's upstairs making lunch. She wanted to know if you'd join us."
George looked down at his stomach and then glanced at his watch. "Yeah," he agreed, "okay. I could eat."
"Pasta should be done in a few minutes," Fred told him.
"Mm." George smiled. "I think she's already my favourite."
"Favourite?"
"Sister-in-law."
George pushed the boxes away and hopped off of the stool, heading out of the room and up the stairs.
Hermione was nearly finished with the meal when they came in through the door. Fred and George set the table as Hermione pulled the pot off of the stove and filled several bowls. She set them down on the table and took a seat.
"So, how's your day been, George?" she asked.
As they began to eat, he told them about product testing and the rambunctious kids that had come through the shop. He had a tale about a regular, a twelve year old boy who had been coming in every other day begging and pleading to have a job in the shop. The boy had accidentally knocked over the whizbangs display and had screamed bloody murder, ducking for cover when just one went off.
When they had finished George thanked Hermione and excused himself back to the shop to go help Verity, leaving Fred and Hermione alone.
They cleared the table and Fred set the dishes to wash. He poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice and offered one to her as well, raising the pitcher towards her expectantly.
"Yes, please," Hermione accepted.
His hand brushed hers as he passed her a glass and she very nearly dropped it as she pulled her hand back. "Thanks." She sipped the cool liquid and tried to quell her burning cheeks, mentally chastising herself.
"So," Fred said. "Do you want to go out for dinner?"
Hermione looked up in confusion. "We just ate lunch," she said. "It's three o'clock."
"Not now," Fred told her. "Later. Just...a proper date."
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "Okay," she said. "Sure. Nothing too fancy though. I don't have anything suitable to wear."
He chuckled. "Alright, Hermione. You can pick where we go. Seven...eight o'clock?" he suggested.
"Seven thirty," she decided. She finished her drink, placed the empty glass in the sink along with the other dishes, and then disappeared to her room.
Fred waited a moment, wondering if she was coming back out or if this meant he wasn't going to see her until seven thirty. He hoped it wasn't the latter.
After a minute or two of waiting, Fred resigned himself to the couch. He fell back into the plush furniture, leaning back against the cushioned arm and stretching his legs out across the length of it. He closed his eyes and decided it was a good time for a nap.
"Fred?"
He cracked an eye open to see her standing a few feet from him, book in hand. "Hermione?" he whispered back.
"Sorry," she apologized. "You were napping. I'll just leave you."
"Hermione," he said. "What're you doing?" There was a teasing tone to his voice that had her blushing.
"I was going to read," she admitted. "I was...hoping I could join you."
Fred grinned and dropped one leg from the couch and opened his arms. "Then join me," he told her.
She stared at him a moment, biting her lip. He raised an eyebrow at her expectantly. "Come on, Hermione," he beckoned. "I'm comfy. I promise."
She laughed and carefully sat. Her legs stretched out alongside his, incredibly short in comparison, not quite touching him. She began to lean sideways to the back of the couch when his arms snaked out around her and pulled her back against him. She shrieked and he laughed before he got a face full of her unruly hair.
She apologized and swept her hair to one side for him. He folded his arms across her stomach and brought his leg back onto the couch, his ankle crossing over her own. "S'alright," he said. He chuckled. "It smells delicious."
She laughed as she relaxed against him. "Thank you. Scented shampoo."
Fred inhaled the scent and his arm tightened around her before they both relaxed. Hermione opened her book and began to read. "Hey, Fred," she began, "you don't mind if we go somewhere muggle tonight, do you?" Her neck twisted to look at him.
"No not at all," he replied.
"Okay." She returned to her reading.
It was nice, Fred decided, the feeling of holding her there against him and watching her at complete peace, entirely absorbed in her novel. It was like watching her in her natural habitat. For the first time since she had stepped foot into the flat, she looked genuinely at home. He liked that.
After a while Hermione offered to get him a book as well but he told her he was content just as he was. He then rested his chin on her shoulder and closed his eyes. He heard Hermione's soft laugh a moment later, unsure as to whether it was him or her book that amused her.
He dozed off into light sleep vaguely feeling Hermione's fingers in his hair as she absentmindedly began to comb them through his soft ginger locks. She seemed to catch herself, realizing what she had been doing as she went to turn her page and there was pause as she froze. He became slightly more alert at the loss of pattern.
There was a slight hesitation when her hand returned to his hair a moment later. He couldn't help his smile nor could he fight the impulse to kiss her as he pressed his lips to her neck.
She startled. "You're awake," she accused.
"I am," he agreed. He kissed just under her ear this time and she blushed. He smirked and his teeth grazed over her earlobe. Her mouth formed an 'o' as she drew in a breath and he chuckled, taking her book from her hands, surprised she let him. He placed it face down on the back of the couch. His hands urged her to turn around and she did, twisting to kiss his lips before turning over fully, her legs untangling from his briefly only to entangle themselves once more.
She kissed the corner of his mouth and just as he moved to capture her lips they evaded him. She trailed a path down his neck, lingering on his adam's apple before traveling back up to his ear. As she kissed the shell of his ear and did just as he had, lightly pulling his earlobe between her teeth, her hands slid beneath his jumper. Her fingers traced the outlines of the muscles beneath his warm skin. Wanting to feel more of him, her hands splayed flat on his taut skin and her lips found his and kissed him soundly.
One of his hands slipped under her shirt and slid over the smooth, soft skin of her back. His other hand buried into her hair and cradled the back of her head, keeping her just where she was as his tongue delved into her mouth.
She could feel herself melting away, farther and farther from her inhibitions even as his hand came round to her tummy. Her hands threaded through his hair as she sighed into his embrace and surrendered herself to being a pile of goo in his arms. He kissed the tip of her nose and she laughed.
"What are we doing?" she asked.
"Getting to know each other," Fred replied.
"You took my book," she said. Her full, now slightly swollen, lips formed a pout.
He kissed it away.
She glanced at the time. "I'm going to go shower," she told him.
He reluctantly released her and offered a steadying hand as she carefully extricated herself from the couch before letting her know he was going to pop downstairs and help George get ready to close shop. She gathered her towel and toiletries from her bedroom and padded out to the loo.
Fred glanced up at her as he opened the door to leave. "You know, you can leave all of that stuff in the bathroom," he told her. "I don't mind. I mean...stay awhile," he said.
She looked down at her towel and then at her razor, deodorant and hair products, all zipped away in her toiletry bag. She began to shake her head. "It's fine," she said. "I have a lot stuff. It'll take up a lot of space and—"
Fred rolled his eyes. "We're trying to get comfortable living together," he said. "So, you should unpack. Everything. Move in, alright? I...I want you feel at home here."
Hermione smiled sincerely at that and nodded. "Okay," she agreed, knowing he was right. "You take some time with George then. I'll shower and unpack before I get ready. Dinner at seven thirty, right?"
"Dinner at seven thirty," Fred confirmed.
The restaurant was quaint. It had small tables and a long bar and was lit to a dim glow for the evening diners. The sign above the door simply read 'Italian Bistro' and the inside fit that description quite well.
"So, what do we talk about?" Hermione asked.
"Whatever you'd like."
She looked about the space as though an idea would float by. The waiter delivered their drinks. "Tell me...tell me a secret," she said. "Tell me something you've never told anyone." She paused. "With the exception of George," she added with a smile.
Fred considered this. "What kind of secret?" he asked.
"Any secret. Here, I'll go first." She sat up taller in her seat. "When I was younger, I shut all the closets before I went to sleep and checked behind shower curtains for monsters. And now I'm twenty years old and I still do it."
Fred grinned at her. She was scared of monsters in her closet. The same girl who fought a war and took on deatheaters was still worried about what lurked in behind curtains and wardrobes.
"Your turn."
Fred took a moment to think of something suitable before he began. "When George and I first moved into our flat," he admitted, "we continued to share the one bedroom for three months because we missed each other."
"That's sweet," Hermione said her smile sincere and wide at the confession. She hummed thoughtfully. "Okay. When I was six, I really hated putting my clean laundry away, so I'd fold it all up and stuff it under my bed."
"You'd fold it?" Fred asked.
"I liked folding," she said.
He laughed. "Alright. This one time Percy was getting on my nerves and he called George and I useless so we spent the week plotting and then before we all left for school, we snuck into his room the night before and took his pants out of his trunk." His eyes took on their typical mischievous gleam. "I don't know what was funnier, the way Percy reacted when he thought he'd forgotten to pack them or the look on his face when mum and dad sent them by owl at breakfast."
Hermione couldn't help her laughter as she pictured the boy's face herself. Percy would have been livid if he'd found out.
"I had this teacher once, before Hogwarts," she began. And they went on and on all throughout their dinner and the dessert they shared afterward. They told funny stories back and forth until Fred had what felt like a permanent stitch in his side and Hermione's cheeks ached from laughter and smiles.
They returned home that evening with full stomachs and wide smiles.
"I have...the greatest newfound respect for you and George," Hermione said. "You two are beyond brilliant."
"Thanks," Fred grinned, "I'll be sure to tell him you said that. Means a lot coming from you."
She blushed. "I'm...I'm going to get ready for bed."
He nodded and they disappeared to their separate bedrooms. "Fred?" she called, just as he was about to close the door behind him.
"Yeah?" he asked, leaning back to see her.
Hermione swallowed her nerves. "Where—where am I sleeping tonight?" she asked.
He lifted a shoulder. "You're welcome wherever you'd like," he told her. "Wherever you're comfortable." And he left it at that.
She shed her blouse and jeans and changed into her pyjamas quickly. After brushing her teeth and washing her face she returned to her own bedroom and perched on the edge of the bed. She'd slept in his room the night before, tomorrow she'd be doing a little more than simply sleeping in his room. She may as well, right?
"Right," she whispered.
Fred cursed at himself. He should have just asked her to join him, he thought. He was such an idiot. He heard the door to the loo open and he waited and sighed dejectedly as he heard her bedroom door click shut.
"Well." He turned down the bedding and got under the covers, keeping to the left in case she changed her mind. Under no circumstances would he ever admit it, but his heart jumped in his chest the moment he heard her soft yet solid knock at the open door.
"You don't need to knock, Hermione," he told her.
She came round the bed and, without the unnecessary questions he expected from her, she crawled into the sheets and curled up with her feet brushing his shin.
"Your feet are freezing," he commented.
She gave him a sheepish look. "Sorry." She made to move away when he trapped her feet between his calves.
"Better?" he asked.
Hermione nodded and wrapped an arm across his waist, pulling herself closer. "I had a really great time tonight, Fred," she whispered in the darkness. "Thank you."
"I'm glad." He kissed the top of her head. "That was the best date I've had...ever."
She sighed and breathed in his warm scent. "Me, too," she replied.
Her chin tilted to smile up at him and he met her slightly parted lips with his own. "Goodnight, Hermione," he said, lips ghosting over her own.
"Goodnight, Fred," she returned.
Fred brushed a curl away from her face and smiled fondly. He watched her dark curling lashes come to rest on her pale cheeks and her smile soften to faint traces as her breathing evened out.
"I think this could work," he whispered. "Actually. Brilliantly."
Author's Note: Wow you lovely, lovely people, you. You make me so happy. I hope you realize that. Now this story has only panned out to six chapters at this point. But I did say it was a ficlet so while that may change I hope none of you are disappointed. There wasn't a lot of ideas that went into this and I still have Lettie going. This was just written last summer over a week's vacation out of boredom, to see if I could. I really love marriage law fics.
At any rate, thank you all so much for reviewing! And if it's not too much to ask, I'm really hoping to get to 40 reviews. Please?
Oh and to the reviewer who gave me their feels: thanks.
You guys are awesome.
Anyways,
Scarlett