Late Lunch, Chapter 25

~o0o~

Sigh.

Fred sank further into his seat, waiting for the lesson to start. George and Lee were to his left, babbling on about something, but they didn't bother him. Bless. His two best friends had sensed early on that his mood was a bit prickly today, and didn't try to lift his spirits by including him in mindless chatter. George had however questioned him a bit the day before about his treatment of Hermione.

Hermione.

Never before had Fred encountered a person so absolutely brilliant but oh so incredibly infuriating at the same time. He supposed this was karma for all the people he had made frustrated with thinking the same thing about him.

Fred almost smiled at this. Almost.

Honestly, he'd thought he knew the girl by now, but apparently he'd been wrong. It was strange to think that a people-person such as him could get it all so twisted, but that's how it would appear now. He had been cautious, realizing from the start that Hermione was a girl who would get spooked if pushed too fast, and so he had taken his time and to his immensely pleased surprise it had looked as if it had been working. At least that's what he'd thought.

He frowned, thinking about their near kiss and what happened thereafter. She had shown no sign of being unhappy about their day together at the Burrow. On the contrary, by Hermione standards she'd practically been glowing. But then something had changed. And Fred had no idea what it was.

"We're on our way to the bus."

What. A. Tosser. Fred had seen the hurt in her eyes, yet he had kept on walking, too confused and hurt himself to turn back and speak to her properly. Tosser. But then . . . she hadn't apologized, had she? She had just come up to him, looking as if she expected him to forget that she'd practically ignored him for days. How could he possibly forget?

He sighed again.

Looking around, trying to distract himself, he found that all the seats were filled and felt a flicker of surprise at the fact that their teacher hadn't arrived yet. She was usually punctual. No matter, Fred was just happy that this was their last lesson with Umbridge, horrible toad that she was. He almost smiled again, remembering the nickname Hermione and Harry had granted the woman, but stopped. He'd just started shaking his head, when—

Click, cluck, click, cluck.

A pair of heels entered the room.

"What the . . ." Lee began, but was quickly silenced, along with the rest of the class, who Fred now noticed had been in a fit of excitement over something. He followed their line of sight.

"Yes, yes, settle down," said Umbridge. She brushed a lock of hair away from her face as it fell and stuck to her forehead. "Just had a bit of a run in with some pestering creatures. . ."

"Pestering creatures, Miss?" asked Alicia, looking too stunned to think about the fact that she'd addressed Umbridge properly.

Umbridge, on the other hand, was not in a mood to speak to anyone properly it; her otherwise forced 'sweetness' was completely gone, replaced by a scowl, and her hands were constantly on the move to right her appearance. She adjusted the hem of her pink cardigan. "Never mind that, Spinnet. Those insects are at the mercy of Mr. Filch and unless you want to be too, we should get on with our lesson."

Everyone in the room exchanged looks. Insects? What was she talking about?

Umbridge cleared her throat, effectively silencing most of them again.

"Now, if you would, we'll begin our last lesson before summer. I don't have much to say except that your work has been abysmal, and were it not for my brief stay here and Mister Lupin's voice carrying a stronger weight in your grading I would fail most of you."

Fred's eyes traveled to a smug looking Montague and his two friends whose less than kind views had coincided with Umbridge's. No doubt who she would have awarded the highest grades if she could.

Umbridge continued rambling on about something or other, when she made for her seat at the front of the room. The weight of her made the chair release a loud honk horn sound.

There were gasps and shrieks, as they all startled, hurrying to cover their ears. Umbridge leapt up and clutched her chest. She recovered and leaned down to check the chair. She grasped at something and stood straight again, facing the class.

"Who," she started, holding up a can. "put an air horn under my chair?!"

The students tried not to snigger, and Umbridge soon fastened her glare on the three boys sitting in a row in the back.

"YOU!"

"I swear," Lee hurried, "we had nothing to do with it."

"Yeah, d'you really think we'd have settled on just one air horn?"

George sent Fred a warning glare.

"Oh, I don't presume anything when it comes to you three," snarled Umbridge. "Don't you think I haven't heard what you get up to?" She put the air horn down on her desk before going to open the drawer, most likely to get a pen and paper. "I will write to your parents, and the headmaster, and then we'll see if you'll be laughing still—"

Pop! Pop! Pop!

There was fizzling and then popping as colours burst in Umbridge's face. Something must have triggered the small fireworks when the woman opened the desk, but Fred paid no mind to the reason at all for he was busy watching them seemingly chase her around room. He and everyone else laughed.

"Get away, get away!" she repeated, over and over again, but it was futile. The tiny explosions did not cease and eventually Umbridge escaped with a shriek out the door, only to discover several more were being set off after her in the hallway.

Everyone hurried out, eager to watch their least favourite teacher stumble her escape. Fred followed, sporting a huge grin and a need to thank whoever made this happen.

And that's when he saw her.

Crouched behind a couple of lockers—only five steps away— was her unmistakable, wild, curly hair, her brown eyes, and shy smile. She was watching him, he realized. The crowd cheered behind him, but his back was turned so he wasn't sure why, but most likely it was because of more fireworks. But he somehow didn't care.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hermione waited somewhat anxiously as she heard Umbridge speak to the class. She hadn't managed to get a good look of the older woman before she entered the classroom but Hermione would wager she was a bit of a mess.

Oops.

A smirk began to grow on Hermione's face, but she told it to wait. It wasn't over yet.

A honk horn.

Screams.

Perfect. It wouldn't be long before she—

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The door burst open and a pink figure emerged, running away for her life. She stopped and caught her breath in the hallway, thinking she was safe. But not on Hermione's watch. Hermione lit up more of the small fireworks she'd obtained the day before and set them zooming after Umbridge, not worrying about the woman. They wouldn't hurt her. Much.

A laugh began to bubble out of her watching Umbridge run away and how the students who stepped out of their classrooms to watch the spectacle as well cheered. It was all so bizarre and she tried to wrap her head around it.

And that's when she saw him.

Watching his delighted expression made Hermione remember why she'd done all this in the first place.

She got up and prepared to go up to him, to explain. To apologize. But her legs didn't seem to want to move.

Odd.

Hermione looked up from her feet and found Fred staring at her. She gulped and summoned some courage, and spoke. "Hi."

He didn't answer. His eyebrows were slightly knitted together. Confusion, she supposed. Oh, maybe she should tell him what she did.

"Er. . .did you like the fireworks? I got some smaller ones, like we planned, and they only cause tiny explosions, but rather effective nonetheless, don't you think?"

She was babbling, but it was between that or deal with uncomfortable silence. Fred was still unresponsive but a part of her brain noted that he had moved closer. When, she wasn't sure. She just wanted to apologize for everything. She wanted tell him everything, she wanted—That's when Hermione's brain registered that his whole class, plus others who'd had lessons nearby were present, but for the first time she found that she didn't care. She didn't care if they heard. She didn't care that people might see her make a fool out of herself. He mattered. He was worth it.

So, she spoke.

"Fred," she said, perhaps a bit too tentatively for her taste, but she pushed herself to continue, "I'm sorry."

It was dead silent. The fireworks had gone out and Umbridge was far away and the crowd had just noticed her and Fred. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione spotted George looking at his twin, trying to guess his thoughts, just as Hermione was. "Fred," said Hermione again, this time steadier, but still feeling her eyes starting to burn. Why wasn't he saying anything? Did he still hate her? Had she been wrong in thinking this would make him happy?

Hermione inhaled deeply, attempting to calm herself enough to not have her voice break, "I'm sorry. I am, I really am, I'm so sorr—"

The rest of her words were muffled by his lips.

Much like so many weeks ago, Fred hoisted her up, only this time Hermione was above him and he was kissing her. Kissing her like she was air and he was drowning. And she found herself respond in kind. They clung fervently to each other, not caring about the onlookers, and gasped for the other person's lips, kiss and anything else within reach. Her hands found his hair and it was so soft. She gave it a tug and she felt his grin on her.

When it ended, they held their gazes locked, foreheads pressed together. Both were panting, but the smiles that grew made it look like being out of breath was the best thing they'd ever experienced.

"I missed you," said Fred.

"And I you," said Hermione. "I'm so sorry, Fred. I panicked—"

He chuckled. Hermione watched in confusion as he kept his smile steady at her apology. "Maybe we shouldn't have this conversation in front of the entire school, yeah?" he explained. And that's when Hermione realized what she'd done.

"Oh my god," she whispered, not daring to look anywhere else but his brown eyes. "Did I just snog your face off in front of the entire school?"

Fred grinned. "Yep."

"Brilliant."

"Want me to carry you out and we'll escape?"

"Skive off school?"

"Unless you'd prefer facing all of them," said Fred, no doubt knowing it was all it would take to convince her to leave.

And left they did.

~o0o~

A/N: TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!

There it was, their first kiss, in front of everyone haha

This is a chapter I had all planned out since I decided to make this a story rather than a one-shot and it feels so surreal to finally have it out there. Anyway, there's more to come, and the kiss is just the beginning! BUT STILL! ISN'T IT NICE TO HAVE HAD THEM REACH THIS POINT?

And thank you for reading, I adore you all *hearts*

Until next time!
/Primrue