Chapter 9: Chocolate and Caramel
Hermione sat up in bed and looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings in confusion before the memories from the day before flooded her mind. She groaned, recalling the fight she had with Harry, her insane escape to Fred and George's joke shop and the fact that she had decided to stay the night in the twin's flat. Her first instinct was to hide back under the covers and hope this was all a dream, but she decided it was best for her to get up.
Hermione rolled out of bed and ran her hands through her thicket of hair, trying to make her mane look somewhat decent. Once she had straightened out the oversized shirt, she decided to take her chances with the flat. She opened the door as quietly as she could, only to be hit with the delicious scent of bacon.
To her surprise, Fred was already awake. Not only that, but from the looks of it, he was actually making breakfast. Hermione never pictured Fred being able to cook, in fact, she couldn't picture him doing any housework. But lo and behold, there he stood, in a ridiculously frilly apron cooking what looked like eggs.
"Good Morning." she said quietly, as not to startle the man. Regardless Fred flinched, "Oh mornin' Hermione." he hurriedly set down the spatula he was holding and looked over at her. He did a quick once over and gave her an apologetic grin "Sorry 'bout the pajamas. Should've shrunken them first, I reckon." She shook her head, "Oh no, it was actually very comfortable!"
Hermione moved over to the kitchen to observe Fred, who had turned back to his eggs. "I didn't think you could cook." she stated, watching him plating the eggs before cracking two more into the pan. "Well, when you live with Molly Weasley you pick up a thing or two ." He shrugged, "To be honest, you're basically seeing the extent of my cooking abilities now."
Still impressed, Hermione watched thoughtfully as Fred finished cooking the eggs. He slid them onto a plate, adding a couple pieces of bacon and a slice of toast.
He handed her the plate, before making one for himself and heading over to the dining table. Hermione quickly joined him. "So, how'd you sleep?" asked Fred through a mouthful of bacon. "Really well! I was exhausted." She paused to bite into her piece of toast. "I forgot that I had stayed over. When I woke up this morning, I was completely perplexed." "Hopefully, you don't regret doing so. The weekend is when our shop is the busiest." They continued on with some small talk when they heard a tapping on the window. Hermione saw a massive barn owl, sitting on the ledge.
Fred let the bird in, who immediately flew in and dropped the overly stuffed bag it was carrying onto the last of Hermione's eggs. Before she could even thank her, the owl was long gone. "Oh, sorry Hermione." said Fred, giving her squashed eggs a grimace. "Nyx isn't the most sociable creature." she shook her head. "I was finished anyway. Is Nyx yours?" "She belongs to Verity. I owled her last night, asking if she could send you a pair of her uniform robes and any muggle clothes if she had any. Figured you couldn't wear your school robes in the shop." Fred picked up the bag, hit it with a quick Scourgify charm and passed it over to Hermione. She pulled open the bag and pulled out the Weasley Wizard Wheezes signature magenta robes. "Brilliant." she peered back into the bag. "Why did you ask her for muggle clothes?" Hermione asked as she pulled out a hideous pink and yellow polka dotted pair of pants. Fred smirked "Well I figured since we only work for half the day, maybe we can take a jaunt over to muggle London. I mean after all I'm with the best possible company for it." He shot Hermione a charming smile as she pulled out two brightly colored right-handed gloves. "That...could actually be quite fun." she relented. "But it might be a bit hard to blend in wearing this'' she produced from the bag, a shockingly green, feather boa.
Fred laughed and took the boa from her. "Maybe we can transfigure them into some better colors. Do muggles really wear this?" he asked, beaming at the ridiculous piece of clothing. Hermione chuckled. "Well, not in this decade but- OH!" she cut herself off. She had just pulled out a light blue, knit sweater dress from the bottom of the bag. "This could definitely work!" She grinned up at Fred, who at this point had tied the boa around his waist like a belt.
Hermione went back to Fred's room to change. She stood in the mirror and tried to get used to seeing herself wearing magenta after years of nothing but black school robes. It really was dreadful. She heard a shout from the other room. "I'm gonna head down now! Meet you there okay, Hermione?" "Yes!" She sputtered "Coming now!" She bustled out of the room and straightened out the vibrant robes before heading down to shop.
As she walked through the aisles, Hermione couldn't help but notice the lack of noise. While she had only been there once, during the past summer, she had a feeling it was always at the level of chaos she has witnessed. While all the displays and decorations were as flamboyant as ever, the shop was completely still. As if it was stuck in time. "Disconcerting, is it not?" Fred's voice floated up behind her. She spun around slightly startled, finding the young man holding a couple of stacked boxes. "Oh sorry! Let me help!" Hermione hurried over and took the smaller box off the top. There was messy writing on it, labelling the product inside as 'snackboxes.' Hermione followed Fred over to an almost-empty shelf, next to a large sign reading. 'Can't stand to stay in class for another second? Save yourself and skive off with our renowned Skiving Snackboxes!' Hermione rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. It all started with these damn snackboxes after all.
"So, what do you want me to do?" she asked, watching Fred nonchalantly flicked his wand and restocked the entire shelf. She watched as he thought for a moment, "How about greeter? I'll just have Verity run you through where you could find all the products." He smiled down at her "With your memory, you'll have it down in no time." Hermione was quite pleased at both her allotment and the compliment. "I can definitely do that."" Excellent! Let me show you where you're gonna be." As she followed Fred a thought crossed her mind. What if somebody recognized her? Rita Skeeter had made her existence very noticeable to the public back in fourth year. Not to mention the fact that she was Harry Potter's best friend. The last time she had gone to Diagon Alley, a gaggle of witches had even come up to her to talk about "The Chosen One."
They got to the entrance of the store when Fred abruptly turned around "Hermione, I think we should change your appearance before Verity gets here." She internally sighed, she was glad she didn't have to come across self-absorbed bringing it up. "She's a sweetheart, but blimey does she gossip. Can't have rumors of you breaking out of Hogwarts flying about, can we?"
"Right, are you any good at Transfiguration or will I have to wear a wig?" she joked.
"Wig?" Fred looked confused. "It's nothing, just a muggle thing. Anyway, you should hurry and Transform me, Verity will be here any minute." He shrugged, "Fine, but I will find out what a wig is eventually." Fred took out his wand and pointed it at her face.
Hermione shut her eyes as he spoke incantations. She had only learned the theory of Self-Transfiguration so far in class, she hadn't yet tried it. It was an odd sensation, like her entire body was being wrapped in clingfilm.
"Done!" She opened her eyes and studied her hands. They seemed different but she could not place it. Next, she pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, which almost elicited a yelp. Her hair was nothing like what she remembered, it was at least a foot longer, straight as a pin, and jet black. Fred, who must have noticed her shock, conjured a small mirror, and handed it to her. She stared into it, not recognizing the woman looking back. Everything from her darker eyebrows to her rounder face was unfamiliar. However, the most jarring change was her eyes, which once was round and dark, were suddenly downturned and crystal blue.
Before Hermione could decide whether she should yell at Fred changing too much about her or praise him for such skillful Transfiguration, the door of the joke shop swung open. "Sorry Mister Weasley! The floo network is all backed up. Had to stand in line for half an hour. Oh, who's this? Is she the new girl?" said Verity, all in one breath. Fred shot Hermione a smile before moving toward the young witch. "Mornin' Verity! Not to worry, you came at a good time." Fred gestured for Hermione to join him. "And yes, this is-" "Jean!" Hermione interrupted, outstretching her hand. "Jean Walker. Nice to meet you" the girl quickly took her hand "Verity Green, Likewise!" Fred continued on, "Jean here is a friend of ours and she'll be working here for the day. I'd like you to go through the locations of products, so that she can act as a greeter. In the meantime, I am going to finish restocking." With that, Fred sauntered off into the depths of the store and Verity began to list what products were in stock.
Hermione's brief lesson was over, just in the nick of time. The store flooded with customers, the moment that the doors were unlocked. Just like that, the store came back to life with a passion. The building rang with the sounds of conversation, laughter, and the occasional gasp.
Fred seamlessly switched into his showman's persona, catching the attention of every witch and wizard that entered the store, including herself. He always had a knack for being engaging and charismatic. It wasn't until recently, that Hermione saw a new side of him. A gentle, thoughtful side she hadn't encountered before their letters. Before she could dwell on this thought for too long the first huge crowd came bustling in.
It turned out Fred was right, Hermione picked up the store's layout rather quickly and found herself to be surprisingly proficient as a greeter. While the job was hectic, she was actually enjoying herself. It was quite fun welcoming the starry-eyed guests to the shop and pointing out amazing products to wonderstruck children and adults alike.
Hermione was in the middle of explaining the difference between a puffkien and a pygmy puff to a confused looking parent when Verity pulled her away from the conversation and shouted over the crowd "Jean! I need you to man the register!" Hermione could barely hear the mousey girl as she got dragged through the crown, only catching bits of information. "Forgot…. Mr. Weasley...and then...storage…. a minute." Before she could ask Verity to repeat herself, the girl was lost in the crowd. Hermione stared helplessly at the strange looking cash register. She took a deep breath. I worked part time at Asda over the summer, I can do this! It'll be fine.
It took Hermione exactly 3 minutes and 42 seconds to realize that it was not fine. The first customer had made things quite simple, by paying the exact price. The second customer, however, needed change and this brought to light the main issue. The strange cash register. The cash register, like everything else in the wizarding world, was magical. For some odd reason, when she would open the tray, the register was completely empty. This was fine for the first customer, as all she needed to do was put away the money. However, when she had opened it again, to get change, the money had disappeared.
"Just one moment." Hermione replied in her best customer-service voice, trying not to panic. She decided to try different buttons on the blasted machines, in hopes that one of them would work. None of them did, nothing was working. Three more people had joined the line and the man at the counter was shifting about, impatiently. Hermione looked around, hoping to find Verity on her way back, but that wasn't the case. Her body felt uncomfortably stuffy and hot as she became increasingly frustrated.
"Jean!" Fred's voice sounded from directly behind her, "I forgot to tell you, the register's been acting wonky all week." He moved next to her and jabbed his wand on the machine, which it sprung open violently, holding the exact change necessary. He grabbed the small pile of coins and handed it to the customer, who huffed and stalked away. As the next customer came up, Fred leaned down and whispered, "Sorry 'bout that Hermione." the feeling of his breath on her ear sent a shiver down her spine. "I'm not sure where Verity went, but I can take it from here." she gave him a grateful smile and rushed out from behind the counter and made her way back to the entrance.
Hermione quickly got back into the swing of things, though she couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. If the line hadn't gotten so long, she would have demanded Fred teach her how to work the register. It was so frustrating to her; she couldn't help wanting to be competent at everything she did. She caught Fred's eye from behind the counter. He smiled at her and gave a wink before turning back to the customer.
Thereafter, the workday went by rather smoothly. Once the store was closed, Verity apologized profusely to Hermione before heading home, leaving her and Fred alone for the first time since that morning. "So, the last thing we need to do today is deposit our earnings off at Gringotts." stated Fred, moving to the counter, and tapping the register with his wand. "We can also get some muggle money while we're there." Hermione watched as the tray flew open, full to the brim with gold, silver, and copper coins. Fred smiled widely "excellent earnings today - no doubt due to my magnificent new assistant!" He scooped the coins up and they hustled off to Gringotts.
Once the two of them got back to the flat, Fred undid the transformations on "Jean" and Hermione was back to her usual curly brown-haired self. She couldn't help but grin as she ran her hands through her frizzy mane and down the familiar features of her face. "How do I look?" she asked a fairly amused Fred. "Like Hogwarts brightest and most brilliant star-pupil." she rolled her eyes but was happy with the compliment, nonetheless.
Hermione went and sat on the couch, stretching out her sore legs. The day had been hectic, and she was thankful to finally relax. Fred collapsed on the couch next to her "Man, Hermione, if you weren't so set on pursuing higher education and a respectable career, you would be an excellent addition to the store." "I will definitely keep that in mind." she chuckled. They sat, basking in the peace and quiet, before Hermione decided to break the silence. "So, about tonight…" she had been wanting to broach the topic, since he had brought it up this morning. "What exactly did you want to do in muggle London?"
"Well I've only ever been for research purposes. Usually to check out muggle magic stores and toy shops." Fred continued, thoughtfully, "Maybe we could grab dinner and go to muggle pub? I'm not sure what else there is to do…" Hermione thought for a moment. "Oh!" an idea came to her. "We could go to the cinema! I went with my parents the last time I was there?."
This seemed to have piqued Fred's interest, as he immediately sat up straight. "I've heard of cinemas. Dad says it's a giant telly-vision, like the one I saw in Harry's uncle and aunt's house! We should definitely go." Hermione grinned, "Something like that. It usually takes a couple hours, so if we leave soon, we can probably catch one before we get dinner." Just like that the two of them went off to get ready.
Hermione, after taking a quick shower, pulled on the light blue sweater dress, her black uniform tights, and Mary Janes. She grabbed the hair framing her face and pulled them back into a braid, giving the illusion her hair was half up. Giving herself a once over, she decided that she didn't look half bad before stepping out into the common area.
Fred, who had taken a shower before her, was already dressed, and leaning against the kitchen counter, reading a letter while waiting for her. She had expected him to be wearing some sort of ridiculous ensemble, like most wizards do when trying on muggle clothes, but she was rather mistaken. He actually looked rather normal. In fact, he looked better than normal, wearing dark jeans, a white Radiohead t-shirt, and a light- washed jean jacket. Hermione had to consciously keep herself from gaping at him. Had Fred Weasley always looked like that? He looked up at her and began to smile. "Blimey, Hermione." he pushed away from the counter and let his eye roam over her. "You look stunning! Robes are wasted on you." Her face warmed up. "Oh, well, thanks. You look like a muggle." she replied lamely. "Should I take that as a compliment?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Ah, yes! You look really good. I was just surprised. Wizards don't have the best understanding of muggle fashion. Shall we go then? We wouldn't want to catch a late showing" she rambled, trying her best to calm down.
Fred quickly cast a disillusionment charm on the two of them before heading out, as not to attract attention in their muggle attire. They got to the Leaky Cauldron without a hitch. Once inside, they made their way to the muggle entrance of the pub. Fred checked to make sure no one was looking and undid the charm. Finally, they stepped out into the bustling streets of London. Hermione had to admit, she missed the familiar scene.
She peeked up at her companion, who seemed to be even more excited to be there. Hermione began to lead the two toward where she remembered the cinema was. Every now and then she would point out to Fred any of the stores or restaurants she had been to. He was thrilled to hear about even the most boring little detail of her memories. He even asked her to elaborate why she didn't like a cafe she had thoughtlessly scoffed at. His thirst for knowledge on the muggle world could only be matched by hers for the wizarding world.
Eventually, they made it to the cinema she had gone to in August. Her parents had wanted to see the adaptation of the Jane Austen classic 'Emma.' Hermione had enjoyed the movie decently but found herself distracted by the American lead actress' terrible attempt at a British accent. Fred stood next to her, eyes darting from poster to poster. "How does this work exactly?" he asked, still staring at the unmoving pictures. "Well, we choose which of these films we'd like to see," she said, gesturing loosely at the names above the box office. "And then we pay for our tickets, go into a large room with many seats facing a screen, and we watch the film, which is projected onto that screen.
Fred nodded slowly, "Okay, but which one should we choose." That was the question. Hermione scanned the list of names, not seeing one that looked familiar until, "Oh, how about Matilda?" "Matilda?" "Yes, I wanted to see it back in August and I figured it would be gone by now. But it looks like there's a showing in 10 minutes." She pointed to a bright blue poster, with floating objects and a girl crossing her arms. Fred agreed and they got into line.
"Here, you probably should handle this." murmured Fred, pulling out the bag of money they had exchanged earlier and handing it to her. He watched her as she grabbed 12 pounds from the bag, before handing it back to him. "This should be enough for two tickets." Fred flashed a smile at her" Brilliant. So, what is Matilda about, anyway?" he asked, staring at the poster. "Oh, well from what I can remember, it's about this little girl who is very smart and loves to read. She goes to a school with a horrible teacher and I think she can do magic."
Fred's attention snapped back to Hermione, a look of absolute bewilderment on his face. "Isn't that your life? What do you mean she can do magic? Like the rabbit out the hat kind?" Hermione had to stop herself from laughing. "Well I guess it does sound a lot like me." she remembered having the same reaction when she saw the trailer earlier that year. She continued on, "By magic I mean she can levitate objects by pointing at them." she lowered her voice to a whisper. "It's just a muggle take on what magic would be like."
From the moment they entered the dingy cinema, Fred was fascinated by every mundane thing. Hermione even had to tear him away from the popcorn machine, after he had stood there in amazement for five minutes. Finally, with a huge bucket of caramel popcorn in hand, they found their seats and settled in for the movie.
Hermione found herself thoroughly enjoying the experience. She had always loved films and this particular one was fantastic. And even though the movie was absolutely enchanting, she couldn't help but peek over at her companion every so often.
Fred cheered and booed at all the right places. Fred nearly leapt to his feet cheering during the cake scene and Hermione had to drag him down by the arm. She had only ever been to the theater with her parents before this and this was an entirely different, yet thoroughly enjoyable, experience. When the movie ended, Fred was raving about everything from the pranks Matilda pulled to the size of the screen.
"-And that caramel popcorn? Why isn't that a part of the magical world? It's incredible." Hermione chuckled, she really could listen to him go on and on all night. "Speaking of which," she said, cutting him off before he started another tangent. "Maybe we should get something substantial to eat." "Right" Fred agreed, "Know anywhere decent? Preferably somewhere with drinks." Hermione thought of the pub that her family always ate at when they came to London. "Oh yes, Swan & Sun! It's a small pub, just up this…" she trailed off. It was then that she remembered why her family always visited that particular pub. It was because the Swan & Sun was the location of her parents' first date. Fred was looking at her with uncertainty, "You alright?"
"Yes!" she choked out, coming back to the present. "It's right up the street here! It's quite cozy. The food and drinks are quite good so I'm sure you'll like it." Hermione rambled as she quickly began to walk. She dearly hoped that Fred would attribute her flushed face to the cold weather. If he did notice, he didn't comment on it and instead continued to gush about his first ever cinema experience.
When they reached the pub, they were welcomed with a wave of warmth and the subdued sound of conversation. Hermione was quite happy to find a fairly isolated booth in the back corner, where she and Fred got situated. She looked around at the familiar, yet totally unfamiliar, setting. Hermione only came here during the daytime with her parents. The feeling of the Swan & Sun was completely different in the evening. The usually daylight-flooded room was filled with a warm, orange glow. The atmosphere of the place was completely different, as all the patrons were tucked away in the various nooks and crannies, having quiet intimate conversations. She could understand now, why her parents would come here for a date.
Hermione looked back at the man sitting across from her, who was peering around the room. The dim lighting emphasized his bright eyes and his wavy, crop-cut hair. She let her gaze continue down, tracing his strong jaw, the line of neck, his lips. Hermione's chest tightened. It felt as though time had stopped, she didn't even want to take a breath for risk of ruining the moment.
Suddenly Fred turned back to her beaming, causing Hermione to flinch. "So how about I go get us something to drink, then?" Hermione smirked "Well, I don't know if you'd want to have a drink with Hogwarts' biggest buzzkill." Fred laughed "Oh I'm certain that the 'star pupil' thing is a front you put on the professors and 'course I want to get a drink with you! You're my favorite employee!" "Oh, don't let Verity hear you say that" she chuckled, "Anyway, do you even know any muggle drinks?" she asked cynically.
Fred put his hand to his chest, feigning an expression of offense "Of course I do! Who do you think I am? George and I would sneak muggle whiskey into the castle all the time!" Hermione lifted an eyebrow "Oh don't give me that prefect look." Fred waved his hand dismissively, "You see, you can't really get drunk on fire whiskey. Because of the burn, you can't drink too much of it. Muggle scotch, however, is incredibly smooth and is surprisingly potent." Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but the waiter had come up to them. Fred ordered Shepard's pie and a glass of Glenmorangie scotch and Hermione went with the burger and chips she always ordered and an ale. She only ever had lighter drinks such as wine or beer, she was worried about how she might act if she ended up getting tipsy tonight.
"You know… I was right before - you are like Matilda." said Fred sipping his drink. "Yeah, yeah because she's a magical bookworm and all..." "No, I mean the books are a given, but it's just that she was so…. ingenuitive and kind and strong." Hermione was taken aback; she felt the blush creep up her face. "Well Thank you...But I wasn't nearly as good at wandless non-verbal magic at age five." she replied trying to change the topic with a joke. Thankfully, it worked, and she and Fred entered an animated discussion on the mechanics of Matilda's magic. Laughing as Fred recounted how he himself had hit himself in the face when trying to wandlessly summon a book just yesterday. Hermione had been so caught up in her own thought's earlier that she'd entirely forgotten one of her favorite parts about the cinema-going experience, the discussion afterwards.
Hermione almost drooled when the steaming plate of food was set in front of her. She had completely forgotten her anxiety about bringing Fred to such a romantically charged location, the moment she took a bite of her burger. "Hermione you weren't kidding, the food is fantastic." Said Fred through a mouthful of pie. She almost reveled in how similar the Weasley siblings could be at times before feeling a bang in her heart. Quickly, Hermione took a huge gulp of ale. She refused to let thoughts of Ron ruin her night. She let out a sigh. "How is the Shepherd's Pie, I haven't tried it here." She watched as Fred's Adam's apple bobbed as he took a sip of scotch, "It's really great, but it still doesn't hold a candle to mum's" "Well nothing really can compare to Molly's cooking."
The two of them finished their meals and refilled their drinks as they restarted their conversation. Hermione was amazed at how little she knew about Fred, even though she had known him for several years.
"So, tell me, what was Hogwarts like before the annual imminent threat of death and destruction?" She listened to Fred hearty laugh. It was such a pleasing sound to her. "Oh, it was immensely dull, you wouldn't believe how much I actually learned." Hermione rolled her eyes playfully, "Oh that sounds dreadful" "No seriously, before Quirrell, we had Professor Lorraine, she was no fun to mess with at all and then in our first year it was Professor Walker. Now he could give Binns a run for his money when it came to boring lessons, but George and I were still studious, starry eyed first years who wanted to know everything."
Hermione stared at him wide eyed "I can't even imagine an attentive studious version of you." He chucked, "Well, it didn't last very long. By second year, we became the balls of chaos you know us as today." He finished off his scotch and waved over the waiter for a refill. "What else… Oh! We dyed Snape's hair pink in second year!" Hermione choked on her drink "you WHAT? H-how did I never hear about that? Are you serious?" Fed laughed again "Dead serious! We had detention from winter break to the end of term that year. Jolly ol' Snape wanted to get us expelled, but thankfully Dumbledore has a sense of humor." Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "That is incredible Fred. I mean It's terrible but Oh Merlin! I would have paid to see that!" Fred beamed at her. "Never thought I'd see the day where you would laugh at a professor's misery." She shrugged "Well it's Snape, he deserved it." Fred raised his glass "wiser words have never been uttered before." She tapped her glass to his.
"How did you even manage to do that anyway?" she asked, her thirst for knowledge getting the better of her. "Oh, we spent the entire summer between first and second year and all of winter break, trying to figure out how to make a potion that we could slip into his morning pumpkin juice."
Hermione laughed but couldn't help feeling a slight twinge of jealousy. What she would have given to be able to return from Hogwarts and still be surrounded by magic. "Hey Fred? What was it like growing up in a magical household?"
He shrugged, "I never thought of it as anything special. I mean when you're exposed to magic from the day you're born, it loses its impact. Don't get me wrong, it was incredible! I can still remember the first time I did an accidental bout of magic, I'd never been so relieved in my life."
"Relieved? Not excited or anything?"
"Well yeah, I was excited, but I feel like every kid from a wizarding family is scared of being a squib. It must have been a completely different experience for you since you had no clue."
"Oh absolutely! I never even considered magic being an option. Every time I did magic, I thought it was just a wonderful coincidence. It wasn't until Professor McGonagall showed up and told my family about Hogwarts…"
The two continued to exchange stories about their respective childhoods. The two ended up jumping from topic to topic, flowing from one to another as both parties became less and less inhibited. Hermione even told him about her traumatic summer job. It wasn't until the waiter came over to tell them the pub was closing, that the two of them finally decided to go home.
Hermione had only been tipsy once before and it was only slightly. She had drunk one to many glasses of wine in France one summer and had to act sober the entire time so as to not embarrass herself in front of her parents. Today, however, she let herself enjoy the buzz. She found herself to be very giggly, warm, and slightly off balance. This time Hermione had no reason to be embarrassed, as Fred was quite inebriated from having 4 glasses of scotch. The two of them stumbling back towards the Leaky Cauldron, all the while laughing about the various hijinks they had gotten into.
"...And I kid you not, we had to walk all the way to McGonagall's office covered head to toe in feathers!" Fred recounted as they stumbled into a completely deserted Diagon Alley. "That was the last time we ever tried to become animagi." Hermione found herself in a fit of giggles for what it felt like the hundredth time. Her face even hurt from smiling so much.
Suddenly Fred threw his arm around her and pulled her to his side. She felt his face nuzzle into her hair "You smell nice 'Mione." he slurred as they continued down the street. Hermione's face felt like fire and her heart hammered in her ears. It's just the alcohol. She told herself sternly. You should get closer to him, said another, much more nefarious, voice. Put your arm around him. Without having a chance to think about it, Hermione's arm snaked around Fred's waist pulling him ever so slightly closer.
The rest of the way, they didn't talk. At some point Fred had begun to hum a Weird Sisters song, but she barely registered it as her mind was in chaos.
When they made it to the flat, they finally let go of each other. "Thanks for supporting my drunk arse, Hermione." Fred beamed down at her. "Well I was using you for balance as well, so it evens out." she quipped, hoping to act as normal as possible. They looked at each other for a moment, as if they were studying the other. Fred's smile softened as he reached up and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "Well g'night, Hermione." He said softly before moving away. They silently made their way to their respective rooms.
"Hey Fred." she called out before she could stop herself.
He paused, "Yeah?"
"You smell nice too."
With that, she rushed into the room, shut the door, and collapsed on the bed. After taking a second to recover from her odd decision, she got up, changed into her makeshift pajamas, and got into bed properly. She snuggled under the covers and closed her eyes. The day had felt immensely long and extremely chaotic, Hermione had earned some rest and relaxation.
However, her face still felt warm and her heart was still beating like mad. Her mind kept replaying the events of the last thirty minutes. She just couldn't get him out of her mind. His laugh, his warmth, his smile, his eyes.
She shook her head, shooing the thoughts from her mind. You're just not used to men. The only men that you're close to are Harry, Ron, and Dad. Now that was an explanation she could get on board with. Hermione was simply happy to spend time with a new friend and have someone she could talk to. Happy with this explanation, she was finally relaxed enough to fall asleep. And while she wouldn't remember it in the morning, her dreams were filled with chocolate cake, caramel popcorn, and a certain fiery redhead.