Author's Note

Hello everyone, so I really enjoyed writing this chapter and really I hope you love it too! (Please leave me review to let me know.) Also, feel free to listen to the songs mentioned at the end of the chapter to get you in a good mood like our favourite non-couple if you fancy it!

With love,

Wishin' Girl x x x

...

"Hey!" She called in greeting as she ran towards him "Sorry I'm late."

"Hey!" He replied, ended his go at hopscotch and caught her up in a twirling embrace before setting her down and handing her the bouquet of beautiful red roses causing a chorus of 'aww's to be issued by the onlooking crowd of mothers and daughters.

"You ready to go?" She enquired breathlessly and beamed as he nodded and indicated his waiting rucksack "Okay, let me get changed and grab my bag and we'll head out."

"Need a hand?" He offered hopefully with a cheeky wink.

She laughed and shook her head, telling him to carry on with his game and she'd be back down in five minutes.

True to her word Hermione arrived only five minutes later, hair and body clean and smelling of coconuts, sunglasses, vans, summer shorts and a floaty top put on and the bag Fred had made for her thrown across her body.

"We've only got five minutes to get there" she gushed nervously as she leapt down the stone steps and the pair waved goodbye to her neighbours and sprinted off around the corner.

They had apparated directly into the ministry's atrium and, thanks to the security wizard being good friends with Arthur, they managed to skip to the front of the queue and get to their portkey just in time. Beaming at each other they grabbed hold of the broken frisbee and, after a lot of spinning, landed hard in a room at the Ministere de Affaires Magique in Paris.

Their portkey had brought them into an impressive domed room made of towering glass panels connected with beams constructed from curved green steel in the typical Art Nouveau style. A long, raised balcony ran around the edge of the welcome hall they had landed in and so the pair made their way up the steel stairs onto the balcony where they registered their wands with the security wizard. The french security wizard tossed the frisbee into a chute beside him as Fred illustrated his flawless French with the guard and then guided an awestruck Hermione through a glass tunnel and into a much larger and grander dome with a bronze welcome desk along one edge.

"Henry, the guard who welcomed us" Fred explained with his hand placed delicately on Hermione's lower back guiding her as she twisted and turned to admire the extravagantly decorated ceiling of the atrium "said this is the main atrium and we can leave from here. Take your time though."

Hermione nodded mutely as Fred pointed out and named the magical creatures adorning the ceiling as though they were star constellations in an inky midnight sky. As a stellar niffler gambolled along the back of a pompous looking hippogriff and took shelter between the front legs of the sleeping mooncalf Hermione giggled and leaned into Fred's side. All of the worries of their past nine weeks seemed to melt away in that very moment.

"Come on, let's go explore Paris" Fred suggested a while later, reluctant for Hermione to leave his embrace and to break the peaceful trance she was in, but keen not to let her miss out on the rest that Paris had to offer.

With his large hand still firmly placed on her lower back, Fred and Hermione made their way into the ornate birdcage elevator and ascended through the top of the glass dome to emerge right into the centre of the Place de Furstemberg, with the steel vines, bars, flora and birds of the birdcage elevator melting away to leave Hermione and Fred standing in the middle of the Wallace Fountain with the hot Parisian evening sun beating down on them from above.

Heading first for their hotel to check in, Fred consulted the map that Henry the guard had given him in exchange for the discarded portkey. Hermione pointed out the route towards Pont des Arts and they were soon strolling along Rue de Seine towards the river and the nearest entrance to wizarding Paris. Unlike Diagon Alley in London, wizarding Paris consisted of a sprawling net of pedestrian roads and ancient buildings that had grown up alongside the old city, resulting in several entrances and exits to the muggle world and numerous shortcuts that could be taken through the magical streets.

As the pair reached the water front they spotted a curious wall of extraordinarily tall vines covering every inch of a nearby stone building and that seemed to be completely overlooked by any passing muggles, it reminded Fred distinctly of the way unseeing eyes passed over number twelve Grimmauld Place.

"Through here" Hermione gushed in excitement, pulling aside a tangle of vines and causing the mirage of stone behind it to fold like fine silk in her hands.

They passed through the waterfall of greenery and emerged into an elegant narrow street stretching due east. Towering buildings flanked the smooth limestone walkway and as the pair wandered along, Hermione and Fred took great delight in pointing out the small shops selling high fashion, exorbitant jewellery and wizarding wares as well as the tiny bakeries and patisseries dotted between them. Balconettes and windowsills adorned to overflowing with blooming flowers identified the homes of magical Parisians high above. Somewhere along their walk they had passed from the end of the narrow alley into the wider Place Cachée and Hermione had to teasingly drag an enthralled Fred away from a brand new art nouveau style broomstick in the window of the Gaston McAaron quidditch shop.

Finishing off the handful of macarons and bottle of cool water that Fred had purchased for them to share when they had passed yet another pastel coloured patisserie and finally succumbed to the temptingly sweet scents of sugar and pastry, they turned down a side street and within moments arrived at the charming front door of La Vie en Rose, their hotel and home for the next two nights. The hotel was a floor to sky tall, narrow strip of a much more extensive limestone building housing further shops each with flats above. However it was easy to identify which parts of the building belonged to the hotel for it was completely covered in climbing roses of the palest pink. The plants were clearly magical as there were at least a thousand delicate roses in full bloom stretching from ankle height to so high up that Hermione couldn't even pick them out anymore, and no sign of any roots.

Stepping inside the delightfully scented building, Fred and Hermione were greeted by a dapper looking young man at a curved walnut reception desk, behind which stood a wall of brass keys and a wide brass spiral staircase extending up through the entire height of the hotel.

"Good evening" Fred said in flawless french "we have a reservation with Madame Alady's hospital."

"Of course sir, please follow me." The smiling gentleman collected two keys from the hooks behind him and led them up the vast staircase. "We are hosting a large family this week from Lebanon who are here to celebrate their son's wedding so we have given you two the top two rooms of the hotel where you will have the whole of the seventeenth floor to yourselves. It is a long way to climb but it will be quieter than sharing a floor with the large excited family and the view is simply spectacular."

It was indeed a long way to climb up but Fred grasped Hermione's hand when he felt her flaking about three quarters of the way up the spiral stairs and was energised as she powered on through with a grateful smile.

"Here we are," the man declared jovially as they finally emerged onto a small landing at the top of the vast number of stairs before whispering to Fred with a wink "and I would give your friend the chamber on the right, it has the better view."

With a sincere thanks, Fred opened the door he had been indicated to give to Hermione and ushered her inside. There were only two bedrooms on this floor, each with a small en suite shower room and sloping roof. Hermione's room however had the bonus of a large window at the foot of the double bed with a balconette outside that would be just big enough for two pairs of feet, though the presence of the charming balconette was completely overshadowed by the view.

Expansive bright blue skies with wisps of delicate cotton wool clouds gave the backdrop for the panoramic view of Paris's muggle and magical rooftops. Hermione gazed out over the terracotta and slate tiles, the flourishing roof gardens and out towards the Eiffel Tower whose iconic structure stood proudly above the city's skyline.

"Oh" Hermione breathed delicately, a gentle smile of content and wonder blossoming across her cheeks.

Fred quietly left Hermione to admire the view and unpacked his rucksack into his own room on the opposite side of the landing, hanging up his smart robes for the next day before shrinking the rucksack down to a day bag size and throwing back inside his guide books and coin sacks of bezant, french magical currency, and muggle francs.

"Ready to go see it up close?" He asked gently, wrapping his arms around Hermione's waist from behind and beaming at how happy she was with the view.

Dragging herself away from the sight Hermione quickly dumped her own bag down and fished out a cardigan to wrap around her waist and her purse which she tucked into the pocket of her shorts before announcing that she was ready to go.

"What's in the bag?" She enquired as they descended the long staircase again.

"Mostly guidebooks" Fred shrugged.

It took a moment for him to realise that Hermione was no longer alongside him and he came to a stop a few steps below her before turning to look back up into her surprised face.

"You bought guidebooks?" She asked in an almost pained tone of voice but her eyes sparkled with delight.

"Well, yeah" Fred admitted awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously and subconsciously showing off his toned biceps in the process "I bought them at a muggle bookshop and then marked all the pages I thought had decent information so that we could see as much as possible. We have limited time here and I just wanted to make sure we saw everything and that - "

Fred's ramblings were cut off mid sentence as Hermione leapt at him and knocked him down two more steps. They landed in a tangled heap of entwined limbs on the next landing down, Hermione hugging Fred tight and expressing her thanks repeatedly out loud. Hermione was stunning into thorough amazement and delight at the show of extraordinary care Fred was demonstrating through the use of his guidebooks and he spent the rest of their walk down the stairs sharing some of the facts he had memorised from them.

Following the results of his research Hermione and Fred spent the next few hours apparating and ambling all around muggle Paris. They stood hand in hand in the middle of the Arc de Triomphe, Hermione laughing freely as she watched Fred get dizzy from spinning around and around to watch the chaos of traffic looping them. They climbed all the way up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and stood for over an hour pointing out the various parts of muggle and wizarding Paris they could identify from above, including the balconette marking Hermione's hotel room, and sharing interesting facts about the places they could see.

Fred apparated them to the Louvre but it was too late to go in and so he bought tickets for them to return on Thursday morning before their portkey home. Hermione recited the tale of the hunchback of Notre dame as they slowly meandered around inside the magnificent cathedral and Fred became captivated by both the story and the way she lit up as she regaled him with it. From the cathedral they took a long picturesque walk around the neighbouring Ile de Saint Louis before Fred's stomach growled so continuously and loudly that he could no longer ignore it and they found a charming bistro on the bank of the river where they settled down to share a meal under the darkening evening sky.

Several glasses of crisp French wine and a delicious meal later Fred was gazing at Hermione as she, in turn, gazed wistfully at a collection of nearby street musicians, a foggy glazed over look of romance dancing on her eyelashes. As the musicians began the opening to 'Better when I'm Dancing' her feet began tapping excitedly in anticipation of the blossoming beat.

Fred's hand slid into hers, catching her attention.

"May I have this dance?" He requested, already standing and pulling her after him as the musicians began to sing.

The eyes of diners from the busy bistro's other outdoor tables followed them curiously but the pairs eyes didn't separate from each other's gazes as Fred walked backwards into the empty street and began to dance.

Don't think about it,

Just move your body…

They heard the singer's voice ring out joyfully as Fred spun Hermione into him, her floaty top catching in the breeze and emphasising her movements in their lovely salsa.

They pulled apart dramatically to the beat and they continued to spin around the street, making the most of the space and the opportunity to brush their bodies up close, chests pressed close together before Hermione was spinning away and back in again. Her back pressed into his chest as she swayed her hips against his, brushing the backs of her hands up her body as she twisted and turned.

...I feel better when I'm dancing, yeah yeah.

Oh we can do this together...

Arms spread wide they spun independently with their joy filled faces tipped up to the star studded skies before coming back together and continuing their dance body to body.

Out of breath laughter came from the couple when the musicians wound the song to a close and applause echoed from the congregated passers by who had stopped to watch the young couple and the onlookers from the bistro tables who offered smiles and toasts with their glasses.

Dumping several large handfuls of francs on the table to pay for their meal and wine, Fred offered Hermione his arm and they danced away down the street, back towards their hotel to the backdrop of a starry Parisian sky and the tune of La Vie en Rose as sung and played by the buskers they left behind.

Hold me close and hold me fast

This magic spell we cast

This is la vie en rose...