Author's Note: So, I apologize for the last chapter. I really didn't know what I was doing. But I really wanted to create a love triangle with Fred-Hermione-Ron, and I wanted to set it up some way to let Ron and Hermione's relationship blossom a bit earlier than two years from now. And to those of you who were worried about Ron and Hermione doing certain acts, have no fear. It shall not happen. I just want to add some complication to Fred and Hermione's relationship. Poor Ron, being used like that.
Now let's see if I can redeem myself in this chapter!
Chapter Nine
This pain…this horrible pain. It was almost unbearable. No, certain, it was unbearable. His hand fell up to his chest, gripping it, hoping that somewhere he could dispel the pain that was inside of his heart, but it was to no avail. The pain was staying, and it was his entire fault. Fred lay on his bed, curled up into a ball on top of the covers. This is the position he could be found in after class everyday. He hadn't even bothered to take his shoes off; he didn't care. George stood over top his bed, arms crossed.
"Oh, come off it, Fred!" George said. "You did screw her life up a bit, placing that spell on her on purpose. Besides, you're only feeling bad because of the spell."
Fred looked up at George feebly. "It's not just because of the spell."
"What do you mean, it's not just because of the spell?"
Fred finally sat up and faced his twin brother. "Yes, she was a challenge. I'll admit that being a small portion of why I cast the spell on her. But, I also did it because…I don't know. It seemed like a good opportunity."
George's face lit up. "You liked Granger before you cast that spell?"
Fred avoided George's eye, but nodded his head.
"Come on, get up," George said, grabbing Fred's arm. "You're going to go explain that to her right now." Although Fred protested, George practically dragged him down the staircase and into the crowded common room. "Right, now where is she?"
It didn't take long to find Hermione; she was sitting on the couch by the fire, right next to Ron. Harry was sitting across from them in an armchair. Ron was telling them something, and once he was done, Harry and Hermione laughed. Fred watched Hermione's features; her face lit up and her eyes sparkled. Fred wanted to do that for her. Fred wanted to make her happy like that, to make her laugh, and smile, and light up…
George started dragging Fred over to Hermione when he stopped dead. Ron had reached over and taken Hermione's hand. Hermione was blushing a light pink as Ron leaned forward and placed a kiss on her lips. Fred's heart fell as he saw Hermione kiss him back once more. Harry's expression was pure amusement, with a smirk to go along with it. George dropped Fred's arm and instead put his hand on his twin's shoulder. He gently guided Fred back to the staircase, which Fred slowly disappeared up. All hope was lost.
***
Who knew that Ron Weasley could be so sweet! Although the possibility that Ginny had been instructing him on how to act was very likely. Hermione smiled at the flowers that had magically appeared on her nightstand over night. She admired the soft petals, the long stems. Ron had even thought to cute the thorns off of them. Hermione finally pulled herself out of bed and hurriedly got dressed and ready for the day. It was Saturday, so she threw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket, pulled her hair back, and hurried downstairs. There was Ron, waiting for her. She hurried up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "That was very nice of you, Ron."
"Err, right, it was…" Ron said. "What was nice of me?"
Hermione pulled away from him. "The flowers. The roses…that you put on my nightstand."
"I didn't do that, Hermione," Ron said simply. "It must have been someone else, just being nice." He slipped his hand into hers and pulled her towards the portrait hole. "Come on, I'm starving."
Hermione allowed herself to be pulled down to the dining hall, keeping silent as she thought over who could have left those flowers for her the whole time. They took their seats across from Harry and Ginny once downstairs, but Hermione was interested in food. She was scanning the Gryffindor table, trying to get a clue to who did it. Finally, her eyes settled upon Fred. He was staring right back at her. She quickly snapped her head back towards the others, and saw that Ginny was looking straight at her. Hermione blushed and busied herself with filling her plate.
The day went by slowly, snow falling outside the window. Sometime around midday, Harry, Ron, Ginny, George, Lee, and Dean decided that a snowball fight was in order. Hermione politely declined to tag along, instead choosing to stay in the common room by the warm fire and read. She ran up to her room to retrieve a book as they left, and returned back to the common room. Her seat, however, had been filled by Fred Weasley. Hermione slowly approached him, as he watched her every movement.
"It was you who sent those flowers, wasn't it?" Hermione asked him quietly.
"It may have been," Fred said nonchalantly.
"I'm dating your brother, Fred," Hermione said, settling down into a chair across from him.
"But you're enchanted to me," Fred answered simply.
"Well, not by choice! Besides, I haven't felt much of anything except anger towards you."
"And have you ever been angry with me before?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. "Or just irritated?"
"Well, I suppose I've only ever been irritated with you before," she answered honestly.
"You have to care about someone to be angry with them," Fred answered as he moved out of his chair on his knees and made his way to her slowly. "And considering you're very angry, I believe that means you care about me quite a bit." He reached her and put his hands on her knees.
Hermione quickly glanced around to make sure no one was watching. "That's beside the point!" she hissed. "Beside, like I said, I am dating Ronald, not you. I still have a choice, even if you don't think I do! Thinking it's perfectly alright to cast such a horrible spell on me without my permission!"
The smirk fell from Fred's face and he looked at her sincerely. "We need to talk about that."
"No, I don't believe there's anything left to talk about," Hermione said quietly.
"Hermione, I cast that spell on you because I liked you before the spell, and I knew you had no feelings towards me…I saw the opportunity, didn't think, and just did." Fred watched her expression, but she kept her face expressionless as she took it all in. Finally, shock seemed to reside within her.
"You…what?" Hermione said. She glanced around again, and saw that a few second years were watching them curiously. When they saw her looking at them, they quickly looked away. Fred followed her line of vision and stood up.
"Quickly, follow me," he said as he took her hand lightly. Hermione obeyed and followed him up the boy's staircase and into Fred's dormitory. It felt nice, being able to follow him instead of being dragged like she always was with Ron. Fred shut the door behind them and turned back towards her. "I'm sorry I did it, I didn't think beforehand."
Hermione watched him closely. He looked terrified that she would still be upset, and her heart melted a little. Finally, after a long silence, she smiled softly at him. "It's alright, I suppose."
Fred sighed with relief and quickly hurried towards her, wrapping his arms around her. "He doesn't deserve you," Fred whispered into her hair. "He doesn't treat you right. He doesn't treat you how you should be treated." Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes as Fred whispered these sweet things to her. Of course Ron wasn't the gentlest person in the world, she had always known that. She truly didn't see him as a bad person. But he never would say things like what Fred was saying to her. Fred pulled back and looked down at her. "Please don't cry," he said as he reached up and used his thumb to wipe away a tear. "You know, it killed me when I saw you kiss him. I've never experienced pain such as that before."
Hermione looked up at Fred, seeing pain in his eyes as he spoke of the first time Ron had kissed her a few weeks ago. She also saw the pain that she had caused him by being separated for those weeks. The fact that he had placed her into this situation no longer mattered; she just wanted to make him feel better. "Fred, I-"
"Shhh," Fred quickly silenced her. "Just don't talk."
Fred bent his head down and tentatively placed his lips onto her soft pink ones. He waited, seeing if she would pull away or protest, but after a few seconds she responded. He kissed her once more, a bit more forceful this time, and her response came quicker. He reached behind her and pulled her hair out of its ponytail, letting her curls fall loose around her shoulders. She reached behind him and ran her hands down his back, alternating between running her nails and running her palms. Fred opened his lips and lightly licked her lip, asking for entrance, which she quickly gave him. Their tongues met with fury as she gripped around him; she had made out with Ron, but never like this.
Fred reached down and quickly lifted up Hermione; she wrapped her legs around his waist while he held her under her bottom. He kissed down along her jaw, to her neck, to her collarbone, then back up to her neck. He moved up to her ear, where he gently nibbled on her earlobe. An involuntary moan escaped Hermione's lips as he gently blew air into her ear, and a shiver ran up her spine. "Fred…" she whispered hoarsely.
Fred moved across the room quickly and laid her down upon his bed. He moved down onto the bed to lie down beside her, running his hand along her stomach. He slowly raised his hand along her body until he was just below her breasts. He looked at her, waiting. He didn't want a repeat of the last time, where she had run away. She watched him carefully for a few seconds, before smiling and giving a slight nod. Fred grinned back at her and instead of grabbing her, grabbed his wand and flicked it once; Hermione's shirt and pants disappeared, leaving her in her bra and knickers. Hermione gasped and Fred grinned at her. He reached down and finger the lacy material of the thong she was wearing. "Why, I never knew, Granger!" Hermione mumbled something about everything else being dirty, and he just laughed at her. "Mmhm, right."
"Well, things aren't exactly fair yet, now are they?" Hermione said. She reached over and grabbed her wand, and with one flick and a muttering of an incantation, Fred was left in nothing but his boxers. Hermione's breath caught as she saw his defined muscles; Quidditch had done this boy good. Then she looked down at his boxers. Speaking of Quidditch… Hermione left out a laugh. "Chudley Cannons boxers?" Fred grinned and flipped over so that he was now on top of her. He supported his weight with one arm as he bent down and kissed her once more. His free hand began to roam her body, feeling her small waist and flat tummy. He ran his hand back up and maneuvered it under her bra; slowly, he kneaded her nipple between his thumb and forefinger; a moan was silenced by the kisses he kept giving her. Slowly, he moved his hand away from her breast and he heard her whimper. He moved it down across her tummy once more, and to her thigh. He reached up and pulled the material of her knickers out of the way. Gently, he flicked his finger around her swollen spot. Her back arched and she instinctively grabbed his waist. He kissed her hard on the mouth as he flicked it once more, more forceful this time. She moaned into his mouth, and scratched one set of nails down his back as the other hand gripped his waist even tighter.
Fred quickly set to work at kneading her swollen spot, making her writhe beneath him. He pulled away from their kisses and watched her as he pleasured her. Hermione couldn't stand it anymore; she grabbed her wand and flicked it, and the rest of the clothing that adorned both of their bodies disappeared. She grabbed his hand and pulled it up to be beside her bed. "Fred, please…" Her eyes were full of need, and Fred understood what she wanted. He positioned himself over top of her, placed one hand next to her to keep him steady, and used the other to cup her face.
"You've never done this, have you?" he asked her gently. Hermione shook her head, blushing. He kissed her forehead. "I can't promise it will be comfortable at first, but I can promise I'll be gently with you…are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes," Hermione breathed. She reached up and ran a hand through Fred's short ginger hair.
Fred smiled reassuringly at her and slowly lowered himself towards her; his throbbing manhood gently probed her, slowly entering her body. Instantly, he saw discomfort on her face and her breathing quickened. He stopped and stroked her cheek with his thumb and was about to say something when she spoke. "It's okay. It's okay…" He lowered his head down and kissed her gently as he moved into her a bit more. This time a small cry escaped her lips. He continued to stroke her cheek as he gently whispered that it was okay over and over in her ear. Finally, he was all the way inside of her. He let her take a moment to breathe, before she nodded to him. Slowly, Fred began to move back and forth, gently working. Hermione was still gripping his waist tightly, her eyes closed. Fred kissed her forehead, telling her once again that it was okay.
Finally, Hermione began to relax her grip and move her hips in rhythm with Fred. He smiled down at her and kissed her lips gently. Hermione, however, seemed to have other plans as she forcefully pushed her lips against his. Fred used his free hand to cup her breast as he quickened his pace, thrusting more forcefully into her. They moved in sync, becoming quicker the longer they went. Hermione let out a moan and her back arched. "Fred, I'm about to-"
"Me, too," he moaned into her ear. With one last push, both of their bodies erupted into fire as they reached their limit and came. Fred slowly pulled out of her and lay down next to her. He pushed her sweaty hair out of her face and kissed her cheek. She turned her head towards him and smiled at him. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find the words to explain everything that was running through her mind. Fred smiled and nodded his head once, understanding exactly what she was thinking. She relaxed and laid her head down on his chest. Thoughts of Ron didn't enter her mind once.
