Thanks Ash for inspiring me to write this little piece


the one with the delivery boy


Hermione stood, staring at the boy who had arrived at her front door. He wasn't whom she had been expecting when she called the grocery store; that person was supposed to be a man in his fifties, not a boy who looked about her age.

"Who the hell are you?" Hermione asked before remembering that she should be more polite with people who handled her food, but she wasn't sorry for what she had said. "You aren't Mr Filch, the delivery man."

The boy chuckled and something stirred inside Hermione. "No, I'm not. I'm Fred. Nice to meet you."

Hermione dropped her head to the side, looking at Fred with a glare, which made him laugh more. "Are you a new employee? I never knew Mr Filch had any employees who made deliveries."

"That's a funny story, actually." Fred scratched his neck, and Hermione became even more suspicious. "I went there to buy a 7up—because they're delicious and I didn't have any at my place—when Mr Filch asked if I could make a delivery for him, and since I wasn't doing anything, I thought 'why not?'"

"That's it? You decided to just deliver something for someone that you don't even know for the owner of the grocery store? Don't you have any sense of self-preservation?" Hermione couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening right now.

Fred shrugged, and Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose. Why did boys never seem to care for their safety? "It wasn't a big deal; besides, I got to meet a pretty girl, so it's a win-win situation in my book."

Fred smiled flirtatiously at her, and it made her blush, which in turn made her mad because she was blushing over a boy who she had just met and would probably never see again.

"Smooth," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. Fred smiled at her again, which made her want to slap his smile off his face—or kiss it off. Shaking her head, unable to believe what she had just thought, Hermione took the bag from his hands. "Thank you for bringing my order for me. Do I need to pay you something?"

"Nah, Mr Filch told me that you already paid him, so we are cool." Fred shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "See you around."

Hermione just nodded. The strange redheaded boy waved at her and walked towards the elevator, smiling all the way. She knew she wasn't going to ever see him again, and she was fine with it… so why did she wish that he'd asked for her name or even her phone number?


"Hello, you aren't Mr Filch." Hermione could hear the amusement in her mum's voice. They had called Mr Filch for another grocery delivery, and her mum had gone to answer the door today. "Who are you, sweetie?"

"Hello, Ma'am. I'm Fred. I was here yesterday with another delivery." Hermione's heart started beating wildly against her ribcage; she hadn't thought she would ever hear his voice again. "Is your daughter around?"

Hermione was sitting in the living room and didn't even let her mum call for her before she ran up behind her, peeking from over her mum's shoulder. Fred was at her doorstep once again.

"Hermione? How do you know my daughter?" Hermione's mum asked, but before she could ask anything else, Hermione thought that it was time to intervene.

"It's all right, Mum. I can take it from here." Hermione said, pushing her mum away, glancing at Fred, whose smile widened at seeing her. "Why don't you go sort through the groceries?"

"Sure, I know when I'm not wanted," Hermione's mum said with a smile on her face, winking in their direction. "Don't do anything that I wouldn't do!"

"Mum!" Hermione yelled at her retreating back, while Fred laughed when her face warmed. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't work at the grocery store."

"And I don't," Fred said with a smile on his face. He had crow's feet around his eyes, an obvious sign that he probably never stopped smiling. "Another funny story. I was there buying 7up again, and when I heard Mr Filch saying that he was going to take a delivery up to your house, I offered to come here, hoping that I could see you again."

Hermione was touched about his concern but also a little worried about the amount of 7up he seemed to drink on a daily basis. Not that she could say anything, since she was ordering dozens of cans of Coke from the grocery too.

Suddenly, she realised what he meant. "You wanted to see me again?" Hermione asked softly, and Fred nodded in reply. "Why didn't you ask for my number yesterday?"

"Because where's the fun in that?" Fred shrugged and winked at her, making her face warm even more. "I wanted to see you in person and ask if you'd like to go get ice cream with me?"

"Now?" When Fred nodded, Hermione nodded back as well. "All right, let's go. Let me just tell my mum."

"I'll be waiting here!" Fred said, his smile brighter than the sun outside, and Hermione couldn't help but smile back. Who ever thought that a delivery boy—who wasn't even a delivery boy—would change her day?