This is honestly as fluffy as it gets! But It's Fred's birthday! I couldn't make him sad.
Thank you to iwasbotwp for lending me her time and expertise as a beta, again.
"Please, Hermione! I really won't be able to do this without you!" Fred said with a whine as he practically batted his lashes at her.
Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes. It had been a whole week now since Fred had first asked if she would be willing to help him with a birthday present for George and he hadn't stopped asking since. In fact, he had been asking her multiple times every day in as many ways as possible. Including now, standing in front of the fireplace in her flat, looking good enough to eat.
She had been harbouring a serious crush on the man since a year after the war ended, but she valued her friendship with the twins immensely and was terrified of ruining it by throwing herself at Fred. So it wasn't that she disliked the added attention coming from him, but his methods were really starting to border on the ridiculous.
He had sent multiple owls, his Patronus appeared more times per day than was strictly polite, and a letter had even arrived through the Muggle post to her flat. Yesterday, she had received a singing telegram! She hadn't even known it was actually possible to send such a thing, though she supposed anything was available for the right price. And that wasn't even mentioning the countless Floo calls at inappropriate times of day and night and the unfortunate incident on Tuesday where he had Apparated into her flat while she was in the shower.
Hermione smirked, recalling how he had learned the hard way not to startle her by spending an hour stuck to her wall, bound in ropes with his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth. Yet, here he was, standing in front of her again. She sighed.
"You know, it would be so much easier to agree to help you if you would just tell me what it is you'll need me to do. I'm not one to leap without looking first, Fred!"
He raised an eyebrow and then grinned at her. She was nearly disarmed by the traitorous butterflies invading her belly. Not for the first time, she thought of how much easier he might be to resist if she wasn't so bloody attracted to him.
"I seem to recall, Miss Granger, that you did a fair bit of leaping without looking back at Hogwarts," Fred said, a teasing lilt to his tone. "I can promise it will be a lot more fun than any of the trouble you got up to back then!"
"Why does it have to be me? Can't you drag Ginny into your diabolical scheming instead?" Hermione nervously ran her hands through her curls before absent-mindedly pulling them into a ponytail and securing it with the elastic around her wrist.
Fred laughed. "I'm afraid that wouldn't work this time. Georgie requested a very specific birthday gift…"
When Hermione looked up at him, his face had lost its humour. In fact, she wasn't certain she had ever seen him with such a serious look on his face. The sudden urge to put a smile back on his face took over and she found herself speaking before she could think what she was saying through.
"Alright, Fred. If it's that important to you, I'm all yours." The moment the words left her lips, she blushed deeply, wishing she could have conveyed the message in some way that didn't sound like she was offering herself on a platter. She rushed on, "What do you need me to do?"
"Come to dinner with me tomorrow? As my date?" He was looking down at her uncertainly, a crinkle between his worry-filled eyes.
Hermione scrambled to find the words to answer him as her heart beat loudly in her chest, but her traitorous brain had failed her and she continued to stare at him in stunned silence instead.
"I won't hold you to it, you know. You can say no if you'd rather not. I really shouldn't have tried to twist your arm and I suppose I've already sort of fulfilled my end of the bargain with George if you turn me d-"
"I'd love to," Hermione sputtered out, interrupting him. "I'm really not sure how this is a gift for George, but going to dinner with you is certainly no hardship, I promise."
"Oh, well that's good. Great really. George will be pleased. I mean, I'm quite pleased!" Fred blushed and then grinned at her. "I've been interested for a long time, to be honest. That's why George requested I ask you out for his birthday gift… I guess he wants to see me happy."
Hermione stepped towards him, feeling suddenly bold. Reaching a hand up to tug him closer by the collar of his shirt, she stopped mere inches from his face.
"Speaking of happy...Happy Birthday, Fred." She slowly raised herself up on her toes to bridge the gap between them and placed her lips gently over his. A surprised moan from her companion left heat pooling in her belly and she reluctantly pulled away before the kiss could get heated. "I guess you should go, and I'll see you in a few hours at the Burrow…"
"Or, I could stay. We could go over together. If you want to."
He stood uncharacteristically still, looking directly at her and Hermione found herself captivated by the combined intensity and vulnerability in his eyes. She smiled at him and nodded.
"I think we could find a way to occupy a couple of hours, don't you?" She said, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and trying not to avert her gaze.
Fred grinned, making the butterflies in her stomach flutter again.
"Definitely."