She sincerely wished that she'd run faster and also that she had picked a larger towel or even remembered her dressing gown. As it was, she had no choice but to stand before Ron's towering older brother, her hair dripping rivulets down her neck and chest and the towel barely covering her thighs. She gave him a quick smile and apology and went to walk past, but he moved swiftly, barring her way
"Hermione! What a nice surprise!"he exclaimed teasingly, folding his arms and leaning against the wall in front of her. He looked her up and down, with a smirk of approval and a 'cat that got the cream' look.
Hermione tipped her head on one side, her lips pursed in annoyance
"Well, now you've had a good look, can you just get out of my way Fred please?" she snapped, "I'm not in the mood for this right now, I just want to get to my room!"
"What's the hurry?" he drawled leisurely
"The fact that I'm cold and dripping wet!"came Hermione's incredulous reply
"Well why didn't you dry yourself first, before you left the bathroom?" he asked moving to block her way again, as she tried to sneak past the other side.
"Because I didn't have time and besides I haven't got my wand with me" she answered irritably, her heart sinking at that revelation
"Ohh!..I... see.., well! That was pretty silly of you wasn't it? Didn't you know you should carry it with you at all times? No exceptions!" he reminded her, in an annoyingly condesending tone,wagging his finger with derision
"Yes, of course! But I forgot it this time, OKAY? Now MOVE!" Hermione snapped, by now losing all patience with her red-haired tormentor. She pushed him as hard as she could with one hand, trying to keep as much distance as possible between them, while her other hand kept a tight grip her towel.
"Okay, okay, I'll move!" Fred conceded eventually, giggling at her persistent, but never-the-less rather ineffective pressure. He brought his hands up in a mock surrender, stepping back a little, but just as she went to push past,he stood his ground again, then added with a smirk, "but only if you give me something first.."
"What?" Hermione sighed, eyeing him suspiciously. Knowing the twins as she did, she dreaded what that something would be
"Erm.." Fred hummed, looking up to the ceiling for a few seconds as if considering all the possibilities, then he looked down again, he raising his eyebrows at her suggestively before speaking
"Give me a kiss and I'll move.. I promise! - I'll even escort you to your room, if you like!" he grinned cheekily
Hermione's mouth opened widewith complete and utter astonishment, she could hardly believe what she'd just heard. "A kiss! He's got some gall asking me that!" She thought crossly. "Especially with all the hassle he's been giving me lately!"
"What?" she replied incredulously, then it occurred to her that of course he wasn't really being serious, he was just trying to wind her up again.
She glared at him in annoyance, her head on one side, with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. Then she sighed and shook her head derisively
"Ohhh Fred! Just move your butt will you and stop messing around!" she scolded
She pushed against him again, with her whole body this time and much harder,but he still remained unmoved. He obviously felt that he'd been given an unprecedented chance to tease her and was making the most of it. He smiled at her triumphantly
"Well?" he prompted looking at her expectantly
She then decided to take a different tack
"Fred! Ple..a..s..e.. let me get past, this isn't funny anymore!" she pleaded
"All I want is one kiss!" he countered dejectedly "Am I really that repulsive to you?" he added, his face in a mock puppy dog expression
Hermione couldn't help but smile at this silly face and so, probably against her better judgement, she decided to relent. She'd got pretty fed up with standing on that drafty landing by then and just wanted to go.
"Okay...but just one!" she sighed, flicking her eyes upwards, but then added threateningly,"And don't even think about trying anything! I may not have my wand with me but I'm pretty good at self-defence you know!"
"Yeah, I heard about you!.. But I like my women with a bit of spunk in them" Fred answered suggestively, grinning
"Yes, I bet you do!" Hermione retorted dryly, then added impatiently, "Well? Come on then, I haven't got all night!"
Hermione had always seen Fred and George as near enough like her own brothers and therefore expected to feel a certain amount of affection for and from them,but as he approached, her stomach lurched with nerves. She had truly believed him to be just messing around until then, but as he got nearer, his face softened and looked more serious. Did this kiss mean more to him than just a way of teasing her? She then began to regret agreeing to something as intimate as a kiss, thinking that it hadn't really been a very good idea, but as he got still closer, she felt like a cat in the headlights.She could smell him, a warm, musky scent, mixed in with the faded perfume of some indistinct brand of aftershave andwas momentarily distracted. She had just begun to wonder what kind it was that he was wearing – thinking it smelled rather good, when she suddenly woke up to what she was doing and corrected her self reproachfully
"You're not supposed to be enjoying this!" She scolded, in consternation at her own weakness
Her belly was now all butterflies as his hand curled slowly round her right shoulder, towards her neckand before she could change her mind, he moved in for the kiss.
His lips touched hers so softly that it took her by surprise, so much so, that she didn't break off straight away. Fred obviously taking this as encouragement to continue, began to slide his other arm around her back and move in even closer, but she froze and quickly pushed him away.This felt wrong – in so many ways.
No, this definitely wasn't about teasing her anymore, this was something more serious to him - unless he was the best actor she had ever met! Hermione stood there for a few seconds, looking at Fred with a confused expression, feeling many emotions at once - the main one being guilt. What would Severus think if he could see her now! Severus wasn't the type to forgive and forget easily - he'd already proved that. Her only comfort being, that she knew she still felt no differently about him and that only the element of a mixture of curiosity and surprise had encouraged this awkward situation in the first place.
Fred smiled at her affectionately, obviouslywanting to placate her sudden coldness
"It wasn't that bad was it?" He asked softly, at the same time stroking a stray strand of hair off her face. But Hermione was reeling, she'd had no idea he could have felt this way about her and was still trying to take it in. What was he playing at?
She tried to speak, but no words would come, so she just 'huffed' out a breath and shook her head in derision and disbelief. She pushed past the red haired twin completely unhindered this time and made a run for it up the stairs, hearing him call after her a couple of times, but paying him no heed - she would deal with him later when she had calmed down and had, had time to think. Once she reached the door of her room, she yanked it open, ran inside and sped over to her bedside table to grab her wand.
"What's up?" Ginny asked, amused at her friends flustered demeanour. Hermione ran back to the door and waved her wand over the handle, locking it tight.
"Nothing!.. Just a bit out of breath that's all!"
Hermione replied cheerfully, turning round, smiling and trying to look and sound casual, even though her belly was still churning so much she felt quite sick. She walked over to her bed and sat down, taking a moment to take some deep claming breaths, which only served to make her dizzy.
"Are you sure you're okay? You look like someones scared the hell out of you!" Ginny pressed, with concerned curiosity
"I'm fine, I just.." she began, hesitatingly, still trying to get her breath back
"I bet it was my brothers wasn't it? Which one.. Fred or George?.. Or both?" Ginny interjected, smiling shrewdly
"Neither" Hermione lied, thinking quickly, "It was just me being stupid that's all – I just didn't want anyone to see me in this stupid little towel! I mean.. I can't believe I picked such a small one!" she continued, snorting derisively and shaking her head as if in disbelief at her own stupidity (close to the truth of how she did actually feel at that moment.)
Ginny grinned, concurred with Hermione's opinion and then they both laughed, which helped to ease the tension a little.
Hermione then picked up a comb from her bedside table and began to untangle the knots from her hair with it, rather more roughly than was necessary. Her mind was whirring with what had just occured and she sincerely hoped that no further explanations would be needed. She felt pretty sure she couldn't tell Ginny at the moment what had really happened, as she didn't know if her friend would understand or perhaps even misread the situation, but she still hated lying to her and it made her feel very alone. She knew that someday soon she would have to tell her friend the truth about herself and Severus, but she wasn't ready yet, no, she needed to wait for the right moment.
After a brief silence, Ginny suddenly piped up
"Snape was here earlier you know, shame you missed him" seemingly disinterestedly, but knowing full well the effect this man's name would have on her friend. Hermione felt Ginny's eyes burning into to her, waiting for her reaction
Hermione stopped what she was doing for a mere second, but quickly corrected herself. She couldn't allow her self to show too much interest or Ginny might suspect something.
"Oh.. was he?" Hermione replied, trying to sound just as disinterested as Ginny had.
After this answer, Ginny was then silent for a while, with a brooding expression, looking like she was turning something over in her mind. Hermione's whole body had tensed and her belly began to churn again, while she wondered what her friend was going to ask next
"It is all over with you two isn't it - like you said?" She eventually asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Yeah.. of course it is!" Hermione agreed, trying to look surprised, "Huh! I'm glad I missed him, it would have been really awkward.." she continued, grimacing at a particularly troublesome knot she was trying to comb out.
"Yeah, I suppose it would" Ginny replied thoughtfully, then added, "Erm..why don't you just use your wand?" she asked, indicating towards what her friend was trying to do with her hair, then relaxed back on her bed and resumed reading her book.
Hermione nodded and after a quick spell her hair was dry and knot free, albiet a little frizzy. She got ready for bed and climbed under the covers, knowing that sleep was not going to come easy. She picked up a book and tried to read it to take her mind of things, but soon tossed it aside; she just couldn't concentrate, not after everything that had happened that night. She chatted to Ginny about general things for a while, but very soon Hermione heard, in the telltale way her friend was breathing, that she'd fallen asleep and she was then left alone with her thoughts.
Turning off the light, she tried to go off herself, but tossed and turned restlessly, her mind racing and belly continuing to churn uncomfortably.
She sincerely hoped that the kiss Fred had given her had been just a one off joke and he left her alone in future. But what did he mean by it? Had she unknowingly given him signals that she liked him? Had he just taken a chance and hoped for the best? Obviously to him, she was now free and single and therefore fair game, even if she was his brother's ex! He couldn't know that she already had a lover - and she had no intention of letting him find out either! What if he asked her out? Oh God!..She really didn't need this stress at the moment - what with everything else going on!
After giving up trying to go to sleep naturally,she instead tried a relaxation charm together with a meditation technique she'd learned once, which did help her to drop off. But it felt like no sooner had she closed her eyes, though, that she felt the persistent nudging from Ginny's hand, trying to wake her up.
She rose, washed and dressed, then followed her flame haired friend downstairs - hoping against hope that Fred and George had not decided to stay the night.