Hermione woke up with the light peering through the curtains. She looked at the clock, and was momentarily thrown into panic when it read 10:06AM. She then breathed a sigh of relief when she remembered that it was Saturday, and she didn't have to get out of bed. At 10:07AM, she rolled back over into Fred and fell asleep again.
Fred woke up, and glanced over at the clock. 11:19AM. He looked down at Hermione, and she looked so peaceful as she slept. And he didn't want to wake her up. He really didn't. But he really had to pee. He spent several minutes trying to pry himself from her sleeping form, but she was an extremely strong cuddler. He finally gave in, and gently started shaking her awake.
"Hermione, dear, please wake up. I really need to use the loo." He tried to be sweet
"Mmmm five more minutes."
"If we wait five more minutes I am going to piss all over you."
Hermione's eyes shot open and she quickly rolled over. She watched Fred go out the bedroom door, and heard him make it to the bathroom. She had just rolled over and closed her eyes again, when she heard the door open. She turned back towards the door and saw Molly Weasley standing in the doorway. The two women looked at each other for a moment, not sure where to start. Hermione wanted to say something, but figured since the older woman approached her, that she should give her the conversational right of way.
"Dear I don't quite know how to start this conversation."
"Neither do I, Molly. Neither do I." The two women smiled at each other, and laughed a little. The tension in the room had broken.
"You two seemed rather close these past few days."
"We've just gotten close these past few days, I guess."
"Any particular reason that you had him spend the night?"
"I didn't have much say in the matter, to be honest. I got home from the bar with Harry, Ron, and Ginny after we dropped Hannah off at her flat, and Ginny went up for a shower while the boys made themselves some food because, well, it's the boys. I was going to change into something other than my work robes, and Fred was there." Molly was gearing up to respond, when Fred entered in the room. He maintained what little cool he had left in him while looking back and forth from his mother to Hermione a few times. Then he walked out.
"FRED WEASLEY!"
"Morning Mum! Fancy seeing you here, I didn't know you came 'round these parts."
"Oh hush, Fred. Any reason you stayed here last night when you have a perfectly good bed in your flat with George?" He visibly winced at the mention of his twin's name.
"Not really. I need to shower before I go into work though." He grabbed his overnight bag and summoned a towel, and left the room to go take a shower. Molly moved over to the bed, and sat on the edge, facing Hermione. There was more silence, but this time it was broken by Hermione.
"Has he ever winced at the mention of George's name before?"
"Not once."
There was more silence.
"I think a good solid day working at the shop and a nice home-cooked meal for dinner will make him feel better. If he stays over again, maybe we can worry together more." Molly paused, and looked like she was gathering her thoughts. "I trust you, Hermione. I think you'll make a great daughter-in-law one day." She left the younger woman sitting in the bed to go fix lunch. Hermione sat in the bed on her own, absolutely consumed by shock and awe, waiting for something to happen. For pigs to fall out of the sky, for sharp jagged pieces of ice to rise out of the ground indicating that Hell has finally frozen over. She was lost in thought, and didn't even realize Fred walking into his room, all dressed and ready for work.
"'Mione."
Nothing.
"Hermione."
Nothing.
"HERMIONE!"
Nothing.
"Granger!"
"Oh! Fred. I'm sorry, I was just thinking."
He chuckled and grabbed her bun, giving it a gentle pull. "I can see that. Can I give you a kiss before I go to work? We can keep playing house tonight, if you'd like. I'll come here after work."
"Does that mean I get to make dinner?"
"Only if you want to fight Mum."
"I'll see what I can do." She smiled at him, enjoying his brightly colored work robes. He studied her carefully, with a smile on his face as well. She was sitting with her knees up to her chest, arms hugging them in place. He liked watching her smile, and liked knowing that she was happy. He wanted to stand there forever and stare at her, but he had to go to work.
"I'm gonna go to work now." He leaned down to her, kissed her softly on the lips several times, and popped out of the bedroom.
"I might as well do something productive with my day, I guess." She was speaking to no one in particular, but as usual, speaking to herself helped her get her thoughts in order. As she was getting ready for a shower, she was conversing with herself.
"Okay, so after you get dressed, you can get some breakfast, brush your teeth, and head out to look at new flats. Or do you want to rent a house? You could rent a house. Maybe Ron and Harry would want to rent a house with you…and Ginny too? Maybe?"
"Hermione, why are you talking about me?"
"Oh, Ginny." She ran into her best friend on the way to the bathroom.
"Yes?"
"I was just deciding about rentals. I can't live here forever. And it just popped into my head that maybe we all rent a house together. I was going to bring it up at lunch, maybe. I don't know. I do know I need a shower."
The girls smiled at each other, and Hermione continued into the bathroom, planning out the rest of her day.
