AN:

Rights to JKR. Trans rights are human rights. Black lives matter. Stay safe, stay alive, stay kind.

I'm sorry it took so long. I wrote the whole chapter and then realized that some stuff I had planned for the next couple of chapters would fit better here before Thingstm happen. SO, I had to do a total and complete rewrite! From SCRATCH! I also spent some time fleshing out the final chapter before the thoughts could get away from me. Thank you for your patience! I promise I have not abandoned this and I will not leave it before finishing it. Pinky promise. It just might take me a bit to get there.

I didn't even realize that last chapter marked halfway for the fic! Nice!

Chapter 11: Physical Touch

Saturday, September 1st

There's a knock at Hermione's bedroom door, and she groans, turning over under the blankets to face the door. "Come in?"

Ginny enters the room and closes the door behind her, leaning against it with her arms folded.

"Ginny- what are you-?" Hermione begins before snapping her mouth shut and reaching up to rub at her eyes. "We're supposed to do brunch today. What time is it?" She slips off the side of the bed and crosses to her dresser.

Ginny settles herself on Hermione's bed, watching her friend pull on a light jumper and jeans. "Are you okay? You never sleep in."

"Just a bit tired. We didn't get home until five or six," Hermione says, brushing the snarls out of her hair.

"5 or 6 in the morning? What happened after me and Harry left the pub last night?" Ginny sits up straight, gawking at her friend through the mirror.

"Harry and I," Hermione corrects absently.

Ginny rolls her eyes and tosses a pillow at her friend. "Whatever it is, what happened?"

Hermione blushes slowly as she replaces the pillow on the bed and goes to slip on a pair of shoes from her closet before leading Ginny out of the room. "Fred and I went dancing and then to a couple other places before coming home. Oh- Fred."

As soon as Ginny and Hermione walk out of the bedroom, they run into Fred who is just leaving his own bedroom for the morning.

Fred pauses, taking in the two girls before him, his ears a light shade of red before a grin splits across his face. "Gin, is Hermione whisking you away to tell you about our magical night together?"

Hermione's jaw drops and she begins to sputter, "No. We're just going to-"

"Discuss strategies on how to woo m-"

Before he can continue, Hermione slaps her hand over Fred's mouth to cut him off. "Fred."

Fred stops moving, his eyes flicking between Hermione's, brow furrowed. He gently pulls her hand away from his mouth, noting her erratic heart beat at her wrist.

When she finally speaks, Hermione's voice is hushed, "We're going to brunch."

"You'll be back later? Before we go to Harry's?" Fred asks in a voice just as quiet as hers.

Hermione gives a smile and nods before stepping back from him and pulling Ginny behind her out the door.

She leads the way downstairs and out of the bookshop in silence. When they had put sufficient enough distance between themselves and the shop, Ginny turns to her friend with a wicked grin. "What was that?"

Hermione tries to keep her flushing face hidden by her hair. "What was what?"

"Nuh uh. Don't try to hide it. You and Fred were weird. What really happened last night?" Ginny suddenly gasps in a mixture of horror and delight. "Did you-did-Hermione, I swear-" She grips Hermione's forearms and pulls them to a stop in the middle of the pavement, much to the disgruntlement of an older gentleman walking behind them. She pays his grunt of annoyance no heed. "You have to tell me the truth."

"Godrick, Ginny, what?" Hermione seems a bit alarmed at this point.

Ginny takes a calming breath then scrutinizes Hermione's face. "Did you and Fred hook up last night?"

Hermione jerks back like she had been burned. "Ginny!"

"Did you two shag last night?"

"No, okay? We didn't even kiss. I mean, there was this weird energy like we were going to a couple times, but… it - we didn't - it didn't end up happening." Hermione finishes lamely, looking away.

"Why not?"

Hermione jerks her head back up to stare at her friend. "Why not what?"

"Hermione, stop being obtuse. I know you're smarter than this. If there was an energy or whatever between you two, why didn't you kiss?" Ginny starts walking toward their usual brunch place again, Hermione hurrying to catch up.

Struggling to find the words, Hermione throws her head back and groans. "I don't know. That would have been weird, right? Right?"

Ginny stops to pull open the front door of their favorite brunch restaurant and ask for a table. When the waiter brings them to their table and they finally settle in, Hermione looks like she's near to exploding.

Ginny calmly orders for the both of them then takes a sip of the mimosa set before her and finally answers. "I don't think it would be weird."

"Really, Ginny? You make me wait all that time for you to say it's not weird?"

"You're really freaking out over this, aren't you?" Ginny looks amused as she watches her friend fiddle with a napkin.

Hermione covers her face and doesn't respond, radiating pure stress. Ginny grins. "'Mione. You need to calm down and stop freaking out."

"But what if I had kissed him and he didn't want to, and then-"

"I am pretty positive that would not be a problem for Fred if this morning was any indication."

"What does that mean?"

"You're not an idiot, Hermione, so stop acting like one. It looked like you and Fred were in a world of your own when you were making sex eyes-"

"-Ginny!-"

"-at each other earlier. Besides, I know for a fact Fred thinks you're smashing. I honestly don't think he would mind a snog."

"Not minding a snog is entirely different than fancying someone," Hermione mumbles into her mimosa.

"Are you saying you fancy him, 'Mione?" Ginny gapes at her best friend.

Hermione sighs and sets her glass down. "Ginny, please. Can we stop talking about this and just enjoy brunch?"

Ginny sighs and takes a sip of her mimosa. "Fine."

"Thank you."

They're silent while the waiter sets their food before them, and begin to eat in silence for a moment before Ginny sets her silverware down with a clatter. "You'll never believe what the coach of the Montrose Magpies said to one of their players."

And suddenly Hermione's morning takes on a much lighter tone as her friend regales her with the latest gossip within the British and Irish Quidditch League.

Later that day after she and Ginny had returned from brunch and Ginny had left, claiming she couldn't handle the "sexual tension" at Hermione and Fred's flat, Hermione tidies her room while giving her time to consider what Ginny had said that morning. Does Fred fancy her? And perhaps more pressing, does she fancy Fred? Was last night just a fluke and their almost-kisses were a product of adrenaline and the heavy night air? Not if this morning was any indication according to Ginny. But Ginny saw "tension" with anyone and everyone, thinking herself a matchmaker, a modern day Emma Woodhouse.

Hermione snorts at the thought, pausing in the middle of rearranging the books on her shelf by color rather than publication date. Since she was little, she had found that reorganizing her personal collection of books calmed her and allowed her to collect her thoughts. Which would be working right now except for some obnoxious thumping sound emanating from the living room.

She stands with a sigh from her kneeling position in front of the bookcase and makes her way out the door of her bedroom to inspect the source of the noise. The - admittedly very pleasing - view in the living room stops her short. Fred is doing burpees in their living room shirtless. At first she's stunned, eyes caught on the rippling back muscles littered with freckles before slowly taking in the rest of him. The span of his hands as he catches himself on the ground up to his biceps bulging when he pushes himself into perfect pushup position and then down to his legs when he jumps up again to complete the circuit. She suddenly thinks that their living arrangement was a very, very good idea.

Hermione's brain grinds to a halt as she watches Fred finish his set. She is still frozen in place when he stands and stretches his arms above his head, muscles flexing. He turns to drink from the reusable water bottle Hermione had insisted he use and catches her lingering in the doorway, gawking at the sight. He quirks an eyebrow and walks toward her, a wolfish grin taking over his face. "Enjoying the view?"

Hermione says something extremely intelligent like, "Uh," and trails off, eyes caught on his bobbing Adam's apple as he takes another drink.

Fred comes to a stop directly in front of Hermione, crowding her space and resting an arm on the wall above her. He looks at her, mischief glinting in his eyes, noticing the way her eyes track a few drops of sweat carving their way down his neck and pooling in the hollow at his collarbone.

"Cat got your tongue?" His warm breath feathers against her cheek.

And suddenly Hermione snaps out of the trance and is able to push him a few feet away from her, cheeks hot. "You need to shower."

"Care to join me?" Fred smirks.

Hermione's jaw drops.

Fred reaches out to touch her cheekbone. "Looking a bit red there, 'Mione."

Hermione kicks him in the shin and slumps against the wall, watching as he limps his way to the bathroom, chuckling quietly.

Later that afternoon, Hermione returns from grocery shopping to find Fred sitting in the living room with his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes. "Fred?" She quietly walks into the room and leans over his chair.

"Yeah?" He doesn't look up, just continues to rub his eyes and forehead.

"Are you okay?" She places a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just a headache. I've tried the Pepper-Up potion and even some of your muggle medicine tablets, but nothing will touch it."

She gently squeezes his shoulder. "Let me put some of these groceries away and I'll help you, okay?" He nods.

On her way back to the kitchen, she turns off a lamp in the corner. After putting away all groceries, Hermione turns off all lights and pads back to Fred. She sits next to him and squeezes his arm. "Sit in front of me on the floor."

"What?" He squints at her. She rolls her eyes.

"Just trust me." He does as she says then immediately sighs as her hands start massaging his scalp.

"I… wow. That feels brilliant."

"Shhh," She quietly chastises, grinning. He sighs, almost moaning. After thoroughly massaging his scalp, she moves down to his neck and shoulders. "You have a lot of tension in your neck, Fred. You're really tight."

Fred lets out a half chuckle then winces when Hermione pinches his arm. "Your muscles are tight from the tension you keep in them. Grow up."

Fred grabs her hand and brings it back to his shoulder when she tries to stand up. "I'm sorry. Sorry."

He looks up at her with pleading eyes and she sighs and sits back down to resume the massage. After kneading his shoulders, her hands move down to just above his pecs where she continues to massage. Fred's head droops back until he's leaning against her chest. He lets out a low moan. "How are you so good at this?"

Hermione smiles, cheeks warm. "I'm just following the tension."

"I would not be angry if this happened again or if you followed the tension elsewhere."

"Well it wouldn't need to happen if you took a break every now and then." Hermione doesn't respond to the last bit, but her cheeks flush.

"And this is coming from you? I don't believe my ears. And before you say anything else, I think I won't take your advice and create the need for this to happen again." He sighs and lays a hand over one of hers on his shoulder, "Merlin, woman. The things you do to me."

She flushes and pinches him again. "It's probably from your workout. You didn't drink enough water and you're dehydrated."

"Yeah, maybe," His voice lowers and he sounds genuine. "Sorry about that. I can do it in my room so you're not bothered by it."

Hermione blushes and pauses before answering, her voice just a bit higher than normal in her effort to sound nonchalant. "No, I don't mind. You can work out in the living room. Just maybe tell me before it happens? So I can keep out of the way of course."

"Yeah, I can do that."

Hermione knows that she is definitely going to find some excuse to be in the kitchen or living room when he works out.

As usual, Hermione arrives late to movie night at Grimmauld Place that evening, claiming an emergency at the shop.

Ginny looks up from her spot on the floor holding a VCR in each hand. "Hermione, finally. Okay, new Parent Trap or old? We're in a stalemate."

"Original," Hermione responds automatically, kicking off her shoes and leaving them in a corner with the other discarded footwear.

Fred whoops and throws his hands into the air in jubilation. "You absolute goddess, 'Mione. Put it in the magic muggle box, Gin."

Hermione comes to lean against the back of the couch where Fred is sitting. "I know you know it's called VCR player and not a 'magic muggle box.'"

"More fun this way," Fred shrugs and pats his lap with a smirk. "If you don't want to keep standing, may I suggest my lap? Highly recommended. Great comfort quality."

"Budge over," She rolls her eyes and comes around the couch to settle into the very corner, swinging her legs over Fred's lap with her feet in Harry's.

As the movie begins, Fred rests one arm on the back of the couch, his fingers twirling one of Hermione's curls, and the other hand settles just above her knee. Despite Hermione's attempts to focus on the movie, the points of contact continually draw her attention away, shivers shooting through her at each unconscious swipe of Fred's thumb on her thigh.

At one of the more noticeable shivers, Fred looks to her with a slight frown. "You cold?"

His hand tightens on her thigh in a gentle squeeze, and the pressure suddenly brings her back to earlier in the day when she watched those same hands flex under his body weight. She abruptly feels entirely too warm.

"Not cold. I'm fine," Her voice is an octave higher as she attempts to act normal. Fred quirks a brow but turns his attention back to the film. His thumb makes another soft swipe across her thigh, and Hermione struggles to breathe normally.

When the movie finishes, everyone stands to stretch while George disappears into the kitchen for drinks. When he reemerges, he hands them out individually, raising his glass to clack against the others'. Before Hermione is able to take a sip, Fred takes her drink and chugs it.

"Fred!" Hermione smacks his chest with the back of her hand. "You have your own."

Fred smiles sheepishly, eyes flitting to George before coming back to land on Hermione. "Sorry."

Hermione sighs and rolls her eyes before holding her hand out. "It's fine. Just give me yours."

"Mine… uh… I can't."

The others watch the exchange as Hermione quirks an eyebrow. "You can't."

"Nope," Fred responds, popping the "p" and rocking slightly on his heels.

"Why not?"

Fred looks around for an excuse before chugging his drink as well.

George looks flabbergasted at Fred, who shrugs defeatedly and looks back to Hermione. "Come to the kitchen with me. I'll get you a new drink."

Hermione just shakes her head. "You'll probably drink that one too. I'll just have some of Gin-"

But before she can finish her thought, Fred reaches over and plucks the half full glass from Ginny's hand and drinks that as well. The room is silent for a moment before exploding in noise.

"-What is wrong with you?"

"-My drink!"

"-Forge, you're ruining it."

In the chaos, Fred pulls Hermione closer. "Just come to the kitchen with me," He pleads.

Hermione frowns softly up at him. "Fred, what's going- what's happening to your skin?"

Fred's skin, indeed, everyone's but Hermione's, had started to bloom with a dark purple. Fred shakes his head and glares at George, who is too busy laughing at everyone to notice his own skin steadily growing more purple.

"George spiked the drinks, and I spiked his when he wasn't looking," Fred explains.

George looks down and finally realizes he too was covered in the dark pigment. Rather than being angry, he grins at his twin. "Nice. I didn't even see it coming."

"You knew?" Hermione asks, frowning up at Fred who nods. "That's why you drank mine."

He nods again and reaches up to rub the back of his neck.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was trying to, but you wouldn't come to the bloody kitchen so I could tell you in private. I didn't want to ruin it for everyone."

Harry pinches the bridge of his nose and breathes deeply before looking up to the twins. "How long will it last?"

George swings an arm around Harry's shoulders. "24 hours. And yes, it does go all the way down." He says this last bit to Ron, who is attempting to peer into his trousers. Ron shoots a glare his way.

Just before leaving that night, Ginny pulls Hermione into the kitchen for a whispered conversation. "So. Fred." She rocks forward on her heels slightly, eyes glinting maniacally.

Hermione groans and buries her face in her hands. "Not this again."

Ginny pries Hermione's hands from her face. "Oh, yes. This again. 'Mione, he pranked himself for you. What do you think that means?"

"Technically, it's part of our flatmate rules that he has to protect me from pranks," Hermione points out.

Ginny opens her mouth to argue again, but Fred pops his head in the door, interrupting her. "'Mione? Ready to go?"

Hermione hums in agreement and pointedly ignores Ginny's victory look as she follows Fred out the door and into the Floo.

AN: I get tension headaches all the time from the weight of my long hair as well as unrelated migraines. What Hermione does to Fred is some of the things that my husband does for me when nothing will help my headaches or migraines. I carry so much tension in my pecs, shoulders, and neck. It feels amazing when they're massaged. If you carry tension in these areas, I highly suggest asking a friend, sibling, or your significant other to massage them. Really. Try it. Your life will change. And if your significant other is doing it, it can end happily if you want it to ;)