The One with the Pep Talk

"I must say Mr Weasley, I am extremely disappointed in your behaviour during my class."

Fred resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Professor Umbridge's words.

"I will not tolerate students talking when I am trying to teach. Especially when it's only about a joke shop."

Fred gritted his teeth. All he had to do was sit quietly and maybe, just maybe, he could leave without having to have yet another set of lines carved into his hand.

"You may feel that because you have zero interest in taking this class seriously, that others may wish to be disturbed by you and your brother talking about your childish inventions. However, just because you have zero respect for academia, doesn't mean the rest of the class does as well."

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat and carried on.

"I do wonder why you and your brother bothered to remain at Hogwarts this year. You seem more content to waste your time on this absurd idea of having your own joke shop, rather than focusing on getting your N.E. and getting a decent career for yourselves."

Fred pressed his clenched fists against his legs. He knew what she was doing. She was baiting him. She wanted him to snap so she had an excuse to give him detention. Well, he wasn't going to play her games no matter what she said. As if she could read his mind. Professor Umbridge narrowed her eyes.

"You may go. But in future, when you are in my class you will be quiet. Whilst I'm sure you're happy to get poor grades and leave school with nothing, there are others who think differently and actually wish to use their brains for something worthwhile. That'll be all."

Fred bit on his tongue to stop himself from speaking. Instead, he just turned and marched out of her office. Tears pricked in his eyes as Umbridge's words ran round his head, yet he furiously blinked them away as he left the classroom and wandered into the corridor. Given he'd told George to catch up with Lee, he wasn't surprised his twin wasn't waiting for him. The figure of Hermione, however, was not someone he'd been expecting. Fred smiled weakly.

"Hi. Didn't expect you to be the one waiting for me."

She nodded, toying with her hands under the long sleeves of her robe.

"I saw George and he mentioned Umbridge kept you behind after your lesson so…well I wasn't sure if she would be just telling you off or making you write lines with those horrid quills of hers."

"Just a lecture." Fred said. "But to be honest I think I'd have preferred the lines."

"Why, what did she say?"

Fred opened his mouth when he caught sight of Hermione's prefect badge. She wouldn't understand. He knew how much she valued her education and good grades. He also knew she wasn't a fan of him and George selling their products all around the school. Whilst he doubted she'd agree with everything Umbridge said, there was a chance she'd agree with enough of it.

"Fred?"

He shook his head. "It was nothing. Honestly."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "If it was nothing then why do you look so upset?"

Fred's hand shot upwards and he inwardly cringed as he felt tears in the corner of her eye. With a soft smile, Hermione inched closer towards him.

"Fred…what's wrong? Something's been bugging you recently. I know it has. I'm not saying you have to tell me but…well you can if you want to."

He nodded. "I know. I just…it's not really something I want to talk about right now."

"That's fine." Hermione linked her arm through his and gently led him down the corridor.

"But I'm always here for you if you need me. I promise."

Fred smiled down at her. Trust Hermione to pick up on the fact something was wrong. She always did that when it came to him. When he'd tried to hide how upset he'd been at his Quidditch ban, she'd been the one who realised it was all just a façade. The year before when he'd tried to be strong for Ron and Ginny after Cedrics death, Hermione had been the one comforting him at Grimmauld place when the pretence had gotten too much. He knew she'd eventually realise what was bugging him. Yet he just couldn't bring himself to mention it.

Afterall, how do you explain to someone that your family and teachers don't seem to support you compared to the rest of your family?

How do you tell the girl you're madly in love with, you're terrified she'll be the same?


When the letter dropped beside his plate, Fred glanced at it in surprise. His mum wrote to all of them every week, but that letter had arrived only a couple of days ago. He hurriedly looked across at George and then further down the table where Ron and Ginny where. None of them seemed to have any letters. Why on earth would his mum write to him specially? As he reached for the letter, a thought struck him. Umbridge wouldn't have been the first teacher to write home about him and George. But she'd be the first in a while. Most of the teachers had stopped bothering after their third year. Knowing what the contents of the letter would now be Fred opened it up with a sigh.

"Here we go."

Fred,

Me and your father received a letter from Professor Umbridge advising us of your behaviour during her classes. Whilst we appreciate you and George never much cared about school, we had hoped that, in your final year, you would have at least learnt some basic respect.

I know you may think you don't need to get your N.E. because of your plans to open up your own shop when you leave Hogwarts, but the last thing me or your father want to see is you wasting this chance you have. Having N.E. will give the both of you so many options should you need them. We fully support whatever you want to do in your life, but we do not want to see you wasting opportunities that are just handed to you on a plate.

I do, and always will, love you Fred. But please think about what I have said.

Love,

Mum

"Well?" George asked. "What did she say?"

Fred scrunched the letter up and let it drop onto his plate. His heart beat furiously against his chest and he forced himself to keep his breathing steady. Not an easy task with the anger shooting through him.

"Fred?"

He shook his head and got to his feet. Those closest to him were watching in confusion.

"Fred, are you alright?"

Ignoring Hermione, Fred stormed out of the hall. Only when he had turned a corner and was sure that no one would hear did he allow himself to cry. He knew his parents had hoped he and George would get jobs in the Ministry or a similar organisation. But he had also assumed they fully supported their plans to open up their own business. But judging from that letter, he had been so wrong.

Fred wiped his eyes. He didn't want much in life. He just wanted everyone to support him and George, as much as they had done for the rest of his family.


Watching Fred storm out, Hermione shuffled closer to George who'd picked up the discarded letter and was reading it carefully.

"What happened?" she asked. "Did something happen at home?"

George shook his head. "No. Umbridge wrote to mum about what happened during her class and mum's….well it's not as bad as some of her lectures can be, but I know why it'll have annoyed Fred."

"Oh." Hermione toyed with her skirt. "George…do you know what's been bugging Fred? Something's upsetting him recently but every time I ask he just bottles it up."

George handed her the letter. "Yeah, I know what it is. This letter's just pushed him a bit too far I think. I don't think mum means it in the way it's come across but…"

Hermione hurriedly read the letter. "Is this about your shop?"

George nodded. "Because Bill, Charlie and Percy have all gone on to have these amazing careers, I think people just assumed we'd do the same. So, when we announced we wanted to run our own joke shop, it probably seemed like a waste to many people."

"But it's your dream!" Hermione handed the letter back. "It's what you both want to do. Surely that's all that matters?"

"Well try telling Fred that. I know he says he doesn't care, but over the past few months we've had too many people making comments about the idea. He just wants people to support it and, for him, it feels like no one does. I know mum and dad and everyone in the family does." he quickly added. "But equally if we turned round and said we'd dropped the idea and wanted to work for the Ministry, they'd be very happy about it."

"I'm sorry. I personally always thought it was a great idea. If it makes you both happy then that's all that matters."

George grinned. "I know. But if you maybe want to go and find my brother and tell him yourself, it might help him."

Hermione could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. "I doubt it. Surely he'd want your parents to tell him or-"

George's shaking head silence her. "Hermione trust me, there's only one person whose support Fred really wants to know he's got. And it's not mum or dad, or anyone in the family."

Hermione bit her lip. She'd always assumed she'd made it obvious that she supported Fred no matter what he did. She'd always sat and listened every time Fred spoke about the shop and their latest creations. And aside from telling them not to test anything on first years, she'd never said anything that could be seen as unsupportive. Hermione had just assumed Fred knew she supported him with this idea.

Clearly she was wrong.


Fred glanced at the huge rolls of parchment laid out in front of him. With everyone else at the game, he'd taken advantage of an empty common room to go over several ideas he and George had had about the shops design. They'd agreed on the layout of the interior pretty quickly. It was the outside they were debating. They needed something outside to catch people's eye. They just weren't sure what.

"I assumed you'd be at the game."

Fred glanced up to see Hermione standing over him, her arms filled with books. He smiled weakly.

"I needed to have a look at these. Not that it's anything important."

He began shuffling them back into a single pile with the aim of hiding them in his bag.

"Anyway, I thought you'd be at the game yourself. Your two best friends are playing after all."

Hermione smiled. "I know. But I caught a bit caught up with some research for S.P.E.W."

She shuffled with the books in her arms. "Anyway, it's not so much fun when you, George and Harry aren't able to play."

Fred got to his feet and took the books from her arms and placed them on the armchair behind him. Hermione shook her arms out with a smile.

"Thanks. They were a bit heavy. So, what are you looking at then?"

"Oh." Fred rubbed the back of his neck. "It's nothing. Just some design ideas for the shop."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Could I see?"

"Um…sure." Fred sat back down and waited for Hermione to join him. He glanced down at the sheet of parchment in his hand.

"It's just some idea for the front. We want to attract people but we're not sure what best to do. Anyway." He handed them over. "There you go."

Hermione began leafing through the drawings and Fred found himself unable to take his eyes off her. Not just because she was Hermione Granger and he found himself staring at her every time he was anywhere near her. But because he had never imagined she'd be this interested in his ideas for the shop.

"Some of these are a bit…." Hermione glanced over one of the wilder ideas.

"I don't want to say dangerous. But maybe a bit…over the top? I mean you want something that catches peoples eye, but you don't want to go to mad. This is a good one."

She held up a drawing of a huge figure lifting a top hat. Fred grinned.

"That was one of mine. The figure would be above our sign and he'd keep raising his hat when people come near."

Hermione handed him back the drawings. "Well, whatever you pick I'm sure it'll be amazing."

"Thank you." Fred slid the pile back into his bag.

Silence fell on them, and Fred was aware of Hermione watching him closely.

"Fred, I know you love Quidditch too much to miss a match. No matter what else is happening. Did you not want anyone seeing any of this then?"

He shrugged. "It's just…"

He broke off with a sigh and Hermione took his hand.

"George told me about the letter your mum sent. He explained to me what's been upsetting you recently."

Fred drew his knees to his chest. "I just feel like, when we first told people we wanted to open our own shop, we were a lot younger and they probably all thought it was just some phase we were having. But we stuck with it. We started making our own creations and our own products and people realised we were serious. Especially this year when we started selling for the first time. It feel like everyone was happy to support us when they thought it would never happen, but now it's a reality and suddenly no one seems to be happy for us anymore."

"I'm assuming Umbridge said something when she made you stay behind?"

Fred nodded. "She said the shop idea was absurd and basically implied we were just wasting our time here and weren't ever going to do anything worthwhile. It's not like she's the only teacher. Most of them have been trying to encourage us to do something else for ages. And even at home…" he shook his head.

"I assumed we'd at least have our family to count on. But despite what they say, there's so many times when I can just tell they wish we were doing anything else."

Hermione curled up beside him. "He may not say it, but Ron supports you. He thinks you guys would be great at having your own business. And Harry does. He gave you his winnings last year after all."

"Yeah." Fred nodded. "That was a lifeline. We knew we'd struggle to get enough money to buy a building, never mind anything else. I don't know how we can ever repay him for that."

"And I'm sure your family support you as well." Hermione added. "They'd want you to be happy, no matter what."

"I know. But when you have Bill working for Gringotts. Charlie out in Romania, working with dragons and Percy making his way up the ranks of the Ministry, having your next two sons say they want to run a joke shop must have been a disappointment."

He choked out a laugh. "I know it's not exactly academic or has this fancy sounded ring to it; but we love making people happy. We love seeing them smile and knowing that we did that. We love inventing things and making new creations that no one has ever thought of. Just because we're using our brains for that, doesn't make us stupid. Yet everyone seems to act like it just because we don't do well academically!"

Hermione put an arm around him. "You are not stupid Fred. You and George are so clever. Seriously, the things you guys create are incredible. I'm actually a bit jealous!"

Fred shook his head, but Hermione nodded fiercely.

"I mean it. All those ideas! I could never think up any of them. And the fact you manage to get them all to even work? I could spend hours trying to figure out how you manage it and get nowhere. Look, it probably doesn't count for much, but whatever you want to do when you leave here, I will always support you. No matter what. As long as it make you happy then I will help you in any way I can."

"You…you mean that?"

Hermione nodded and Fred had never wanted to kiss her as much as he did right now. Instead, he took her hand and held it tight.

"Hermione, that means everything to me. Truly. I always thought that….well you care so much about your education and having a successful career and I panicked that you might just think what I want to do is stupid and pointless."

"Fred you make people smile and laugh. You bring joy into their lives. Nothing could be more important than that!"

She reached forward and gently ran her hand through his hair.

"You bring joy into my life every day, just by being you."

Fred found himself drawn into her eyes. With a deep breath he leant forward and kissed her quickly. Heat flooded Hermione's cheeks.

"Was that a "thank you" kiss or….something more?"

"Which did you want?" Fred gripped her hand tightly as the nerves began to re-appear. Hermione smiled.

"Something more."

Fred gently cupped her face. "In that case, could I kiss you again?"

Hermione brushed her lips across his cheek. "Always."

AN: More Fremione fluff to warm us up as the weather gets a lot colder. I always felt like Fred and George never had a huge amount of support over their decision to open up a joke shop. Hope you all enjoyed it xx