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Disclaimer: Are you serious?
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Dealing
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"Fred, are you alright?" George asked from the
doorway to the store's workshop.
"Yeah, why?" Fred answered without looking up from his experiment.
"You've been spending about eighteen hours a day in here. You sure there's no problem?" George persisted.
"Yes, I'm sure."
George didn't believe him for a second. Ever since Hermione had gotten out of the hospital she had been spending double the hours at work, claiming to try and make up for missing so much. At the same time, Fred was spending more and more time in the shop concocting new merchandise. If George didn't know better, he'd think they were avoiding each other.
"Hermione still at work?" he tried. Nothing seemed able to lure Fred from his work lately. He'd always been the most dedicated of the two, but until late hadn't turned into a mad scientist.
"Yeah, she said she probably wouldn't be home until nine." That gave him plenty of time to finish the shrinking pellets.
"I could help you know." George offered.
"You have a date. Go spend time with Alicia. I can do this by myself. I'm a trickster by trade remember?" he smiled half-heartedly at his brother.
George sighed and backed out of the room, leaving Fred to his work. Maybe he should try talking to Hermione when she got home. If this was about what he thought it was, he'd get a lot more answers out of her.
………………..
"George, what are you doing?" Hermione cried
when she came home from work to find her brother-in-law sprawled
across the couch eating the leftover roast she'd been planning to
have for dinner.
"Waiting for you." He replied simply.
"Why?"
"I need to talk to you." He answered with a shrug.
"Well that was informative." She snapped as she went down the hallway to change clothes. She came back into the living room to see that George hadn't moved. "Well?"
"Why are you and Fred avoiding each other?" he asked.
"We're not." She answered quickly. In hopes of keeping George from seeing the blush she felt creeping up her cheeks, she turned to look in the refrigerator for something to eat.
"Why do I not believe you?" George asked as he came up behind her.
Hermione shrugged. "Look George, I'm tired. I just want to go to bed. Can we talk later?" She pleaded with him with her eyes and he cracked.
"Alright. But we are going to finish this." He stated before apparating out.
"Over my dead body." Hermione muttered to the empty room.
………………..
"I'm going to kill you." Hermione said
calmly to Fred over dinner, the first they had eaten together in
almost a month.
"What'd I do now?" he asked around a mouth full of potatoes.
Hermione rolled her eyes and threw a napkin at him. She knew she should be used to his table manners by now, but they still got on her nerves.
"You told Fleur I'd be a bridesmaid." She replied simply.
"Don't you want to?" he asked.
"Not in this dress!" she cried. She had left work early that day to go to her first fitting for the wedding which was all set for Valentine's Day-exactly two months away. Fleur could hardly suppress her enthusiasm when she showed everyone the dresses she'd chosen for them to wear. Now she held it up for Fred to see.
"Oh." Fred said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Although he would never admit it, the dress was hideous. It was a shade of purple not found in nature and covered, top to bottom, in lace. It was also possessed of so many bows and ribbons that it looked like a collection of birthday streamers.
"Don't you dare laugh." she warned.
"Wouldn't dream of it." he replied through gritted teeth-to keep himself from laughing at the monstrosity of the dress and Hermione's outraged expression.
Her eyes narrowed and she threw the offending garment onto the couch, and crossed her arms over her chest. It was so unfair. Fred had agreed on her behalf when Fleur had shown up at the shop when she knew, or should have known, that Hermione was at work. Now she was the one who would either look like an idiot wearing that awful dress or look like a wench for refusing to.
Fred recognized the look on Hermione's face right away. She was about to start yelling at him. Loudly. Before she got going he needed to distract her. A slow grin spreading across his face, he walked over to the couch and picked the dress up. "I don't know, it might look so bad once it's on."
"I am not putting that thing on." she declared hotly.
"Come on, I bet it's really cute." Fred started towards her with the dress, an evil twinkle in his eyes. Hermione squealed and ran down the hall into the bedroom. Waving the dress like a madman, Fred dashed after her. A chase around the bed ensued, ending only when Hermione whacked him with a pillow and he stumbled backwards onto the bed. He wrapped an arm around her waist, trying to steady himself and pulled her down on top of him, the dress wedged between them.
Hermione stopped laughing at once. Fred's face was less than an inch from hers and his arm was still holding her flat against him. Fred's own smile slipped away when the closeness of their proximity hit him. A wave of emotion rushed over him and he reached up and kissed her intensely, blocking all the negative feelings from his mind. Hermione whimpered slightly in response and returned it with as much fervor as Fred.
"Ahem."
Fred and Hermione broke apart to see Bill and Fleur standing in the doorway of their room, grinning at them. Hermione jumped backwards off Fred, slipping and almost falling on the floor. He shot his hand out to steady her, causing the dress to fall to the floor. Fleur noticed and shrieked in dismay. "You vill ruin it!" she cried and snatched it up.
Fred burst out laughing. The look on her face was so comical, as if something happening to that dress would be a bad thing. Hermione slapped him on the back of the head for his insensitivity, but it only made him laugh harder. A snort erupted from Bill, and both women looked at him crossly. He was gone, rolling in laughter along with his brother.
"Men." Hermione said.
…………………
"What are you doing here?"
Hermione had just gotten out of a particularly excruciating meeting regarding an elderly and his illegally imported pet grindylow. It had taken her almost two hours to convince the council to let him keep it. He reminded her so much of Hagrid, she couldn't refuse. She had been looking forward to some piece and quiet of her office for a few minutes before she had to leave for yet another dress fitting at Fleur's behest.
Needless to say, the sight of Ron in her office was not an entirely welcome image.
"Nice way to talk to your friends." he snapped. "I just wanted to see if you wanted to have lunch with Harry and me."
Hermione made a face. "I can't. Dress fitting."
Ron grinned. "Fleur's not letting up?"
"Of course not. She even took my dress home with her so Fred and I wouldn't 'damage it'." Hermione put her files into their proper places and began gathering her things to leave.
"Okay. Next time." Ron said quickly and left the room. Hermione frowned. Ron had definitely been up to something. And unlike his older brothers, he couldn't hide it.
Her eyes quickly scanned around the room. Almost nineteen years of being totally obsessive about order and tidiness had given her the unique ability to spot at once if something wasn't in it's proper place. At once she zeroed in on her filing cabinet. It was slightly ajar, as is someone had tried to shut it quietly and in a hurry. She opened it and noticed the folders were askew, having been pulled out and stuffed back in.
Hermione slammed the drawer in rage. She went over to her magical intercom and pressed the button to the top floor, where the Aurors-in-training were.
"Yes?" a nasily voice answered.
"I need to speak with Harry Potter. It's urgent."
"One moment."
Hermione chewed her bottom lip until she heard Harry's voice. "Hermione, what's wrong?"
"Are you having lunch with Ron today?"
"No. I already ate, but he just headed out. Why?" The concern in Harry's voice was evident.
"I found him in my office. He said he wanted to invite me to lunch with you guys."
"You have a fitting today. Ron knows that." The concern was gone, replaced by confusion.
Hermione took a deep breath. "He was snooping Harry."
"Hermione, I'm so sorry. I tried to talk to him about it…" she cut him off. "It's not your fault Harry."
After a pause she went on. "I have to go. I'll talk to you later."
"Be careful Hermione. Ron's not thinking clearly right now." Harry warned.
"I will."
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"How did it go?" Fred asked Hermione as she collapsed onto the bed later that night.
"She's more evil and sinister than Voldemort could ever have been." Hermione mumbled, her face buried into the pillow.
Fred grinned. "Want something to eat?"
"No. Just sleep." she said and was out before she finished the words.
Fred sighed. Ever since the other day, when he'd kissed her, he'd been terrified. What if Hermione found out how he felt about her? She would have to tell him how she felt and he didn't think he could handle hearing it. Sure she'd responded to him, but attraction didn't mean anything. Certainly didn't mean she loved him. Because she didn't.
He just had to accept it.
…………………
Hermione woke in the middle of the night due to extreme cold. Fred had stolen all the covers. Again. This was starting to get old.
She tugged on the duvet, trying desperately not to wake Fred. He was a grouch when he was awoken before he was ready to get up. Plus she really didn't want to deal with the awkwardness right now. It had been there, swirling around them ever since they kissed the other night.
'I can't believe I was so stupid.' Hermione mentally berated herself. She never should have allowed herself to get so close to him. It was dangerous. There were only three months to go and then this would all be over. She didn't need to make it harder on herself, it was killing her already.
Hermione studied Fred while he slept. She had been nagging him for a week to get a haircut, and the too long strands were falling over his eyes. She gently brushed it away, taking in every feature like she was trying to burn it into her memory. As if she could ever forget a single freckle, a single line. She knew she never would. Just like she knew she needed to. Because not matter how much Hermione knew, there was one thing that stood out amidst all of her vast knowledge-Fred would never love her.
