Title: Deception
Author: SoniJanu54
Previously:
Hermione shook her head. The sun was setting now. The sky was a mixture of purples and orange. The last of sun's ray were coming in through the window. It lighted Hermione's patient's face. With a moan, Fred Weasley opened his eyes for the first time in almost 10 days.
His very oceanic blue eyes staring right at her.
End of Chapter 2.
Chapter: 3: Welcome to Reality.
He opened his eyes and looked around. He was staring at a lady. A beautiful woman. She had a face like an angel, with the pale creamy skin, which was flawless. Her hair had escaped the bun, and ringlets were framing her face. She was looking down at him in concern. He moved his attention to his body. He noticed that he was lying down in a bed. He tried to get up, but his body wouldn't obey him. He turned his head slightly, and pain shot through his neck. He was obviously very sore. He just hoped that he would recover.
That night, he drank broth that the woman poured down his throat. He wished that he could stay in her arms forever. He would then die happily.
He frowned.
Die? He wasn't going to die. There never was a question of that. He fell into a deep slumber with that thought.
"It's a beautiful morning, miss, after the storm last night." Hickey said, as she entered the room with Hermione's breakfast.
"He woke up last night." Hermione said to Hickey, who squealed happily.
"See, your presence woke up the sir. He must like you greatly. Hickey is very happy indeed. Hickey is happy to hear the good news." Hermione frowned at the bad grammar. Hickey usually did not speak of herself in the third person, but strong emotions seemed to bring out the elf upbringing.
"Very good news, I would think." Hermione said.
Several days passed by, and Hermione's life became a routine.
Waking up. Checking on Weasley. Eating breakfast. Talking to Hickey. Researching. Checking on Fred. Feeding him broth or some other liquids. Reading books. Exercising Fred's limbs. Giving him a bath. Eating dinner. Checking on Weasley, and talk to him if he opened his eyes. Doing some nighttime reading. Talking to Hickey and going to sleep.
Dumbledore had visited a couple of times to see the progress, and had been very pleased. Fred was coming along nicely.
"There is a letter here for you, miss. It came the muggle way." Hickey said, holding out an envelope. It had to be from Lady Hawford. Hermione and the lady had kept in touch with the letters.
"Put it on the table, Hickey, I will open it later. I will write her this afternoon. I think Weasley is improving." Hermione had Fred's head in the crook of her arm and was trying to feed him broth without magic. His eyes were open. He was listening, but not responding. Hermione finished forcing down the food. When she leaned over to tuck him in, he slid his hand inside her wrapper, and cupped her breast! Not tentatively, not with trepidation, but with smooth confidence of an aficionado of women.
"That was totally uncalled for, sir." Hermione gasped as she stood up. But Fred had already closed his eyes, as though the effort of lifting an arm had cost him all his energy. Where had he learned a move like that? He had taken in many mistresses, but not to please them, but to please himself.
"What happened, miss?" Hickey asked.
"Oh, um, nothing." Hickey had become a friend and a mother figure to her for the last few weeks. She had kept Hermione's spirits up when Hermione felt down.
"Eat your breakfast, miss. You are thinner than a twig. You face could use some fat." Hickey advised.
Hermione checked Fred's body temperature, by feeling his forehead. "No fever. It must have gone away during the night." Hermione said. Her fingers moved to his hair.
"I wish I could wash his hair. Not just clean it, but really wash it with water in a bathroom." Hermione said. "It's just so filthy."
"Soon, when he has the energy to get up and move around. It looks like it used to be dark red." Hickey commented.
"No, his hair is fiery orange." Although Hermione and Fred were separated, Hermione remembered his profile very well. His hair was the only thing that set him apart from the rest of his family; while Fred had reddish orange hair, the rest of the Weasley family had dark red hair.
After eating breakfast, Hermione was studying her husband. Even though she had removed bandages from his face, Hermione still couldn't recognize him. Perhaps, because of the cuts on his face, but Fred looked like a changed man. The only feature she could recognize on his face was his eyes. They were the same oceanic blue eyes, the eye that had made her fall in love with the men that was lying on the bed.
That afternoon, Hickey was trying to get Fred to wake up again. After finding out that one of Fred's favorite fruit was peach, Hickey had brought fresh peaches from the kitchens and was goading, even daring, Fred to wake up.
"Come on, sir, doesn't that smell like nice spring evening in a garden full of peach trees?" Hickey was holding a peach under the man's nose and was talking to him. Hermione broke out into laughter as she heard this. She really liked Hickey. It seemed that the sweet voice of Hermione's laughter had woken him up. He was awake, but did not open his eyes. Hermione noticed his eyes moving under the eyelids, and decided to play along.
"Come on, Weasley. It's a beautiful day outside. It's summer like no other has been, or ever will be, and you are wasting it in the sickroom." Hermione moved next to Fred's bed, and moved her hand to his face. "We could go out in the woods, or in the garden, and just lay down in the grass, looking at the amazing blue sky. The sun's playing hide and seek with the clouds, and the flowers are lush with the scent. Wake up and I will take you there."
Fred open an eye, and took a peek. "Okay, I will let you take me out to the garden, but first tell me who I am."
A/N: Hiya. Thank you so much for your reviews: Hazel-buttafly: glad you like the story. I am guessing u like Fred's character. Review please. Cartoonatic: Thanks for the review. Hope you like this chapter. Ingra: my first sorta flame. I need more criticism. Feel free to give me some advise. Tell me what you think about this chapter. Monnbeam: Thanks for the review. Review again. Please. Flamezblaze1: Thank for the review, Kelsey. Like the story so far?. You guys are the best. I know I left off at the cliffhanger, but I just wanted you guys to know that I already started the next chapter, and I will probably post it up over the weekend, hopefully. You guys like the chapter. Yes? No? May be so? Tell me by your reviews. While you are here, read my other story and tell me what you think.
