Happy one year anniversary Ash. It's been a crazy journey and I'm glad to have you by my side.
Love always finds a way
"I'm really sorry about this," the boy said, before Hermione could understand what he was saying and his mouth was on hers. It wasn't like she never had been kissed before, but she never had been kissed like that before — was this his tongue in her mouth?
"Thanks love, you're an angel."
"I beg your pardon?" Hermione asked, not believing in what had just happened to her. How dare he kiss her and just thank her? "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"What? I think that it was a very Disney move of me, if I do say so myself," the boy said, grinning at her, which made Hermione glare in his direction.
"I'll put a dis-knee in your groin if you're not careful," Hermione said through gritted teeth, trying not to lose her composure in the middle of the hall.
"Oh!" he said leaning on the locker next to her. "Feisty one she is!"
"Really? Who are you? Why do you assume thatI would like to be kissed by you, in the middle of the hallway, on a Wednesday?"
"Fred Weasley, enchanté," the boy said. He gave her a mocking bow and a wink before turning to walk away. "See you around, beautiful!"
"Stop calling me that!" Hermione stomped her feet in could see the way that he was smiling at her, which made her glare in his direction. "And you aren't walking away like this!"
"You're already attached to me? I knew that my kiss was amazing. Is this the beginning of our Disney inspired story?"
Hermione felt the heat in her cheeks. She heard a group of onlookers chuckle next to her and her glare in the boy's direction intensified. "My friends are waiting for me, so unless you want to schedule the wedding, I'll be off."
"You think you're so funny, don't you?" Hermione snarled, wanting to smack the smirk off his face. "I want to know why you kissed me in the middle of the hallway!"
Hermione could see that the boy hadn't given much thought to this ridiculous plan of his, and that made the girl angrier with him.
"Look, my friends dared me to kiss the first person that walked here and you were that lucky girl! You should be happy because of this!" Fred said, looking genuinely confused and Hermione wanted to slap him again.
"You don't even know me! You don't even know my name. You just came up and kissed me! What's wrong with you?" Hermione said with an angry tone ringing in her voice. "I don't know what I did to you, but don't come near me again!" Hermione was shy and, although the kiss was great, she still felt uncomfortable about it.
Hermione tried to walk away, but she saw that her chemistry teacher was prowling up the thing she knew, Fred was kissing her again, and she was melting into him (although the sensible part of her brain screamed at her to move away). She tried to push him away, without any luck . It seemed like their second kiss was even better than the first, and Hermione may have moaned a little — not that she would ever admit it.
"He's gone Fred, you can let go of your girl now," a voice cut through the fog in Hermione's brain. Distantly, she felt her arms wrapped around Fred's neck and that he was holding her by her waist. "But if you want to, do go on. It was quite a pleasant show."
Hermione, finally, came back to her senses and opened her eyes to see Fred's brilliant blue eyes looking at her with something that she couldn't quite understand. She snapped her arms away from Fred's body quicker then she thought possible.
"If you'll excuse me, I have better things to do," she said, finally walking away from the hallway, missing the confused and worried look that Fred gave to her retreating form, alongside the slap that his friend gave him. Hermione just wanted to walk straight to the library and hide there until she could forget the tingle in her lips.
"You're Hermione Granger," a voice said, startling her. Hermione looked up to see Fred Weasley shyly looking at her.
After the whole commotion that happened in the hallway, Hermione didn't see the boy for the rest of the day, and she was thanking her lucky stars that her classes had ended early so she could hide in the quietness of the library — until now.
"Do you want me to congratulate you for discovering my name?" Hermionewasn't in the mood to be a forgiving person. "You should have thought about this before you kissed me."
"Yeah, you have a point." Fred scratched his neck and Hermione was trying very hard not to swoon over the little action, seeing the way that he was biting his lip. "I might have known your name before. I found it when researching important dates. Maybe you could be my next one?."
"Does that pick-up line work with anyone? Is there any girl who believes in this crap?" Hermione asked with an eyebrow raised, even if she was blushing a little over his statement.
"I don't know, I never said it to anyone." Fred smiled at her and she could help but smile a little right back at him. "Ah! I got a smile, I'll take that as a win."
"You're a weird person, has anyone ever told you that?" Hermione said, even if she was smiling as she said it.
"My mum, everyday," Fred replied and Hermione laughed. "Look… I know that we started things with the wrong foot, so maybe we could start again?"
"Why are you so intent on this?" Hermione asked, trying to understand why Fred Weasley — a senior in Hogwarts High and one of the best soccer players in the school — was trying to have a conversation with her after they shared one moment in the hallway?
"What do you mean?" Fred asked, moving to sit on the free chair next to Hermione. "What's wrong with two friends talking? Especially if it's one that saved my arse of landing detention with Snape."
"First off, we aren't friends," Hermione said, holding up a finger when she thought that he was going to argue with her. "Second… What has Snape to do with you kissing me? Thirdly, I thought it was only a dare from your friends, so I'll ask again, what are you doing here?"
Fred seemed to realise what she wanted to know, and let out a huff, looking at Hermione. The girl was trying hard not to get distracted by the different shades of blue in his eyes, the cobalt being the most predominant in Fred's eyes, but this was proving to be a herculean task.
"When I walked in here, my intention was just to say sorry for making you uncomfortable in the hallways," Fred said, not meeting Hermione's eyes and the brunette wasn't waiting for that answer. He probably would have said more, if Professor Snape hadn't decided to walk, that same minute, into the library. A look of panic flashed across Fred's face. Hegrabbed Hermione's book and put it in front of them.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hermione hissed, not wanting to attract Madam Pince's — the librarian — attention to them.
"Because Snape just entered the library and I know that he's looking out for me," Fred said in the same tone as her, but somehow, his voice was huskier in the lower register and did weird things to Hermione's inside. "And he'll never see me here."
"Why is Professor Snape looking for you?" Hermione asked, trying to calm her racing heart. "What did you do?"
"Nothing, he just is trying to put me in detention," Fred said, peeking over the book. "It's my last year and I think he wants to give me the maximum amount of detentions he can."
"That sounds awfully unfair," Hermione said, not knowing exactly why she was trying to help him.
"It's Snape, it's always unfair with him unless you're one of his favourites," Fred replied, winking in her direction. "And he's left already, so I think I can leave you to your studies again."
"Thanks, I think." Hermione didn't want to sound so disappointed that he was leaving, but her face must have given her away because Fred looked at her weirdly. "What? Do I have something in my face?"
"Nothing except these pretty eyes of yours," Fred said with a smirk and Hermione couldn't help but blush brightly. "I want to be your friend, Hermione."
"Why? You didn't even know who I was before today," Hermione said, grabbing her things. She wasn't going to let this boy destabilise her, no matter how good of a kisser he was. "I was just someone that you used to not get detention."
"You weren't that!" Fred said, sounding frustrated. "I just want to know you better, please?"
"I don't know..." Hermione said, not wanting to say something and regret later. "I'm not an interesting person, at least, not the way that you seem to be."
"This means that you knew who I was before I kissed you!" Fred said with a smile so big that Hermione couldn't stop staring at it, or have any coherent thoughts for that matter. "Why did you act like you didn't know who I was?"
"Because I still don't know you?" Hermione questioned, like it was obvious. "I may have heard your name before and saw your face in the hallways, but that doesn't mean that I actually know you."
This seemed to be the right thing to say, because Fred deflated. Hermione felt her heart beat a little faster in worry at seeing him like that. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to make Fred sad because of this.
"You got me there. But now, I just want to actually know you." Fred's smile came back with full force. "You seem like an amazing person to have around and, after the sermon that Katie gave me, I want to straighten things out with you."
Hermione tried not to react to what he had said, but it was hard; no matter how charming and cute he may seem, he was probably only being nice with her because he felt bad for her. She had to remind herself of this.
"I think we have already straightened things between us," Hermione said, starting to gather her things up. "We don't need to make things weirder than they already isn't like we hang out."
Fred just stayed seated, staring at her as she put all of her things into her backpack, not saying a word. Hermione thought she had made her point when he didn't say anything else, and even if she was a little sad about it, she didn't let it appear on her face. The real surprise came when she stood up to leave.
"Nice talk, thanks Fred," Hermione said, standing up and walking away from the table.
"I don't think our talk is finished, Hermione." Without her realising, he was by her side, looming over her. "Do you like ice-cream?"
"What kind of question is this? Everyone likes ice-cream!" Hermione exclaimed with an outraged voice, that made Fred smile. "Why are you asking?"
"Because one of the best ice-cream parlours in the town is right around the corner, and I want to take you there, to start our friendship right." Fred smiled and Hermione blinked at him like he had lost his mind.
"C'mon, let's go!" Fred grabbed her hand and Hermione's mind couldn't work out all of the things that were happening. It felt like her brain had melted with him being near her. They were almost at the school's gate when she thought about asking what he was thinking.
"I'm thinking that I'm taking you to have ice cream with me as a way for me to apologise for the way I kissed you out of nowhere." Fred didn't look at her during his explanation and just continued to lead her towards the ice cream parlour.
Hermione couldn't understand what was passing through his mind but she wasn't going to complain now. She would go with him and try to be cool about everything; she could freak out over what this boy made her feel later.
It turns out that being friends with Fred Weasley wasn't anything out of the ordinary or something that demanded much of her since he usually just asked her to hide him. It didn't matter if they were at the ice cream parlour, the hallways or even the library: Fred would always ask her to hide him.
"You should see someone about this obsession that you have about wanting to hide away from people, you know," Hermione said, more amused about this than she was when their 'friendship' started. "Who are you hiding from today? Professor Snape doesn't seem like the type of person who likes ice cream."
"He doesn't know that his place exists," Fred said from behind the menu that he put in front of his and Hermione's face. It was in times like this that she almost swooned, the smell of his cologne was the thing that most distracted her about him.
"So why are you hiding, I thought you only hid from Snape?" Hermione was trying to think of who else he could be hiding from, but the fact that Fred was almost on top of her made all of her coherent thoughts fly far from her mind.
"George is on a date with Katie and I'm too curious to wait for him to come home to ask him about it," Fred whispered in Hermione's ear and she almost stopped breathing altogether. "They make an adorable couple, don't you think?"
Hermione lowered the menu a little — not so much that Fred could have been seen — and saw the couple sitting at a table near the one they were seated at. George looked at Katie like she was the most brilliant thing in the room and she was smiling at him like she was seeing him through pink-lensed, heart-shaped glasses. Hermione tried to take her eye from them, but it was impossible: she was seeing a couple very much in love.
"Yes, they are," she mumbled, answering Fred's early question. "How long have they been in love?"
"What? What are you talking about?" Fred was looking at her like she had lost her mind, but Hermione could recognise a couple in love from miles away. "It's their first date. I didn't need to stalk my twin otherwise to be here."
"Fred, look at them! They are radiating love and anyone that takes a look at them could see it." Hermione was trying to be discreet, but sometimes, Fred needed a more direct approach to understand. "How long has George looked at her like this?"
"Ever since sophomore year, but he thought that she would never accept going out with him because they were best friends and now, because we're graduating, George decided to shoot his shot." Fred was looking at Hermione like he wanted to say more, but she couldn't understand what.
"How can you be so certain that they are in love?"
"When you spend as much time as me reading and watching rom-coms and, I guess you could also say Disney movies, you become an expert at seeing love everywhere," Hermione said softly, looking at his eyes. "Not that any of this helps me in finding love for myself."
She didn't want to sound bitter with the last statement, but it was true; everyone around her looked like they had found love, everyone but her. Hermione always wanted to know how it would be to fall in love with someone, and get lost in each other's eyes and wanted to know about each little part of the other person, but so far, it hadn't happened with her and she started to feel like it was never going to.
"Maybe you just hadn't found the right person," Fred said, putting an arm around her and bringing her closer to him. Hermione tried not to let this little action mess with her, but she was certain that if he wanted, he could have heard how fast her heart was beating. "I bet that someday, you'll have someone that looks at you the way you want and you'll receive all the love that you deserve."
"I hope you are right, Fred." Hermione sighed and smiled in his direction, without taking his arm off from around her. "What do you think about asking for a milkshake and stalking your brother's date?"
"I thought that you would never ask." Fred smiled at her and she hoped that her heart would stop beating that fast everytime that he smiled at her — or else she would have to stop passing so much time with him- and this was something that she didn't want to do. Not until she discovered what exactly was happening to her.
Hermione thought that she was going to lose her mind if Fred continued to do what he was problem was, she didn't think Fred knew what he was doing. After having spied on George and Katie's date, she got to know them — since Fred couldn't help but bring her to have lunch with them. She became friends with his friends. She and Katie even partnered together in class, and it was in moments like that, that Fred loved to be physical with her.
Without realising it, every time Hermione was near him, Fred would hug her from behind — and since he was so much taller than her, her ear was always right next to his heart. Hermione was trying hard to keep her cool about it, but she could feel the stares of everyone around them as Fred pulled her close to his heart.
She probably wouldn't have thought much about it and wouldn't have even said anything, if it wasn't for lunch on that fateful Friday. Like usual, she was sitting with his friends and, while Fred hadn't shown up yet, she was glad to get to know Katie better.
"You're not coming to Dean's party? It isn't going to be the same without you there," Katie said, turning to face Hermione. "C'mon Hermione, you're fun to have around!You're the only one who can control Fred and stop him from doing… you know, Fred and George things."
Hermione bit her lip. She had never liked the parties that her peers threw, but it was a little detail that stayed in her mind. "What do you mean 'I'm the only one who can control Fred'? I don't do anything to Fred."
"You can say that to convince yourself, but you'd have to be blind to not to see the influence you have on Fred." Katie motioned for Hermione to look behind her, and she could see Fred smiling at her as he sauntered towards their table. "Think about what I said."
Hermione didn't had time to think much about it, because Fred threw himself into the chair next to her and, like always, put his arms around she was already used to this, she wasn't ready for Fred nuzzling her neck while she continued her talk with Katie.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Katie asked, refraining from smiling. "You look ready to pass out."
"I'm fine," Hermione replied, trying to get her breath even, but the feeling of Fred's lips on her neck was distracting her thoughts and even her ability to talk like a normal human being. "Fred, what do you think you're doing?"
"Nothing, why?" he replied, without taking his lips from her neck, making shivers run all over her body.
"Forge, you do realise that you've been kissing Hermione's neck ever since you seated yourself by her side?" George said with a smirk, making Fred stop what he was almost whimpered at the loss of contact. "Do you have something to share with us?"
"I don't have a clue what you're talking about, Gred," Fred said, trying to lighten the mood, but Hermione could feel the way that his voice was trembling. He may have taken his mouth from her, but his arms were still around her. "Who's ready for Thomas' party tonight?"
And just like that, it was like something had shifted between them. Hermione didn't know what to do with this new information, but she was going to store that thought for later. Right now, she just wanted to finish the day and go home — to her bed. And not to the party.
The clock on her bedside table flashed 03:13 and Hermione still was awake. She couldn't put her mind to rest. No matter how much her body craved sleep at that moment, she just tossed and turned in her bed, not relaxed enough to fall asleep. She replayed with the little kisses that Fred had left on her neck at lunch and she couldn't stop smiling at it. She probably would have thought about all of this for hours, if it wasn't for her phone ringing..
"Fred? What happened? Why are you calling me?" Hermione asked, a little worried because of the late hour.
"Nothing happened, I just thought about calling you," Fred replied, matching her tone. "Did I wake you up?"
"I couldn't sleep," Hermione replied, although she was yawning down the phone. She could almost see the smile on his face.
"I couldn't sleep either," Fred said, and Hermione's heart clenched. "I thought that you and I could talk a little, unless you're too tired?"
"No, I can speak with you now." Hermione was trying to think about what to say, but nothing came to mind. "Aren't you supposed to be at Dean's party?"
"I went but I came back hours ago. I wasn't in the mood for a party tonight," Fred replied. Hermione could hear him moving in his bed. "Why didn't you go?"
"I never was a fan of parties, remember? And I wasn't feeling in the mood to be out of my bedroom today," Hermione answered. She winced, thinking that he would think that she was a hopeless person who preferred to stay home.
"Sometimes I feel the same way, you know?" Fred could hear something in his voice but she couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was. "Hermione, can I ask you something?"
"I thought we were already at the point where you don't need to ask me if you can ask me something. Just go ahead, Fred." Hermione never thought that she would ever be friends with the boy who had kissed her in the hallway, but she couldn't imagine not being Fred's friend now.
"Please, don't be offended by this," Fred started and Hermione braced herself. "But, why have I never seen you dating anyone?"
Hermione didn't know how to answer this or why her first thought was to deny it. To lie and say that she had dated people, she had just never announced it. She was curious as to why Fred would decide to ask her this, but she couldn't understand what would've prompted him.
"Why are you asking me about this now, Fred?" Hermione asked. "I thought you weren't interested in why I didn't date."
Fred stayed quiet for a while and Hermione thought that he wasn't going to answer could still hear his steady breathing down the line, so she just stayed quiet and waited for him to talk when he was ready.
"I was thinking about it today, about dating, and I remembered that I've never seen you with anyone," Fred replied, and Hermione frowned.
"Well, who would you date then? Who's your dream woman?" Hermione asked with a mocking tone. She didn't want to know the answer, not really. She tried to bury this feeling inside her, she didn't want to open that Pandora's box now.
"Don't laugh at me, okay?" Fred said, and Hermione smiled hearing him say that. "But I had a dream once about a girl and I couldn't stop thinking about how I wanted a girlfriend like that."
Hermione tried to swallow the lump that formed in her throat, not wanting to know much more about it. "Yeah?What was she like?"
"I can't remember much of her appearance, because it was a dream, you know? But I remember that she loved to hug me. And that she had a laugh that made everything inside me seem right, if that makes sense.I remember feeling lighter when I was with her."
"It looks like she left an impression on you," Hermione whispered, not wanting to know anymore about this perfect girl.
"But even without this dream, I always wanted a girlfriend that would be with me when I'm being silly, that wouldn't mind when I stole her ice cream or hugged her just to be nearer to her. I want someone who would love to just be with me because I'm me, you know?" Fred continued, like he hadn't heard her. Hermione's mind raced, flashing through each of the girls in the school trying to match them to Fred's descriptions. There were so many, Angelina, Padma, Lavender, all girls who would fit right into Fred's world. She was only dragged from her racing thoughts when she heard Fred's question trickle down the phone. "What about your dream guy?"
Hermione stuttered for a second, trying to find the words. What was her dream guy? "I never given thought much about it, but I want to be with someone that makes me laugh even when I don't want is always there to help me overcome my fears and helps me see life is a little more rosier, and they would try to help me be a little silly, even if I complained all the time," Hermione said softly, not wanting to ruin the mood. "However, if he quotes Disney, I think I'd be in heaven."
Fred made a non-committed noise but didn't reply to what Hermione had said. They stayed silently on the phone for just a few more minutes before they hung up, but Hermione couldn't stop her mind from running and thinking about what they said.
It wasn't until she was almost sleeping, that a thought came through her mind and she opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling. She described her dream guy as Fred. Fred was her dream guy! Did this mean that she was in love with Fred?
This couldn't be happening, she wouldn't say that she was in love, she couldn't be! They were friends, she couldn't be in love with him, she wouldn't be a cliché by falling for her friend, she wouldn't… except that she already was. Hermione had already fallen for Fred.
"I'm so screwed," Hermione said, putting a pillow over her head and screaming into it.
Hermione decided that she wasn't going to say anything about discovering her feelings for Fred. He already had someone that he liked and that was his dream girl, so why should she say anything about it? She did what she always did best: she hid in the library until she could stand to be near Fred without freaking out.
Everything in her plan would have worked out if it wasn't for something that she didn't count on: Fred wasn't going to let her disappear from his life without asking about it.
"Why are you avoiding me?" he asked, five days after their conversation when Hermione didn't give him more than a wave in the halls. "Did I do something to upset you?"
"Wh-what? No, you didn't do an-anything," Hermione stuttered, seeing him so near her after discovering her feelings for him was overwhelming. "I just needed some time to myself."
"Really? Is that why you're avoiding me like I have the plague?" Fred asked, with a raised eyebrow. Hermione wanted to dig a hole to hide. "You became weird after our talk on Friday."
"I didn't become weird, I'm just taking some time for myself, okay?" Hermione snapped, trying to walk away from him, but he grabbed her arm. "What do you want, Fred?"
"You didn't realise, did you? When I talked with you about my dream girl?" Fred was running his finger down her arm. It was making Hermione lose her focus on what he was saying.
"What was there to realise? I hope you find her and are very happy with her. She seems like an amazing girl," Hermione muttered, trying hard not to cry.
"Hermione, you're one of the most intelligent people in this school, how can you be so dense sometimes?" Fred wasn't making sense, and Hermione was ready to snap.
"What are you talking about? Are you crazy or have lost your mind?" Hermione asked incredulously..
"Don't you understand what I'm saying?" Fred asked, sounding a little upset with her. "You're my Evangeline."
Hermione couldn't help the sob that escaped her throat. Fred was saying all of the right still remembered the talk that they had over the phone that night, almost a week ago. She couldn't believe how she could have been so blind about her dream guy.
"You, Hermione Granger, are my dream, and I really hope that you want to become my reality too." Fred moved in closer to her and grabbed her face in his hands, meeting her eyes with his own. "Once upon a dream, you were what I wanted. Now, I want you, not only in my dreams but in my arms whenever I possibly can."
Hermione sometimes said that Fred talked too much, but she never thought about doing anything to stop it — until now. Their faces were so close already, she could feel his breath on her cheeks, see the flecks of blue and cobalt dancing in his eyes. Hell, she could count each of the freckles on his perfect face. He was perfect. Hermione didn't even blink as she eliminated the distance and kissed Fred for the first time after becoming his friend.
Their kiss wasn't like the kisses that they saw in movies or Disney, but they had so much passion in it that they couldn't stop thinking 'why did we take so long to repeat it?'. Fred's tongue licked her lips, asking to go further, and Hermione granted his request, sighing into the kiss, thinking about how this kiss was different and at the same time, similar to the one they shared in the hallway all of these months ago.
Hermione's hands were soon on Fred's neck and tangled in his hair, pulling it and bringing him closer to her. One of Fred's hands snaked around her waist, pulling her closer while the other was on her face, caressing it. It was a kiss straight from a fairytale, and Hermione couldn't be any more happier than she was at that moment.
"Do you want to be my girlfriend? And make everyone gush about how cute we are as a couple?" Fred asked, after they had separated for much needed oxygen.
"I thought you would never ask," Hermione smirked, saying the same thing that he had said to her long ago. "I would love to."
She grabbed his shirt and brought his mouth back to hers, kissing her boyfriend just because she could. It was a dream come true and she was finally living her happily ever after.