Daydreams

Hermione was tired of hearing about Draco Malfoy. Harry had spent the evening putting forth theory after theory about what they had seen at Borgin and Burkes. Finally, she was pushed beyond the limits of her patience. Harry refused to listen to reason, and Hermione could think of several ways she would rather spend her time than trying to convince her friend to see reason.

So it was that she had bid the two boys goodnight and left to return to the room she shared with Ginny. She was just about to go in when she heard voices beyond the door. Ginny was arguing heatedly with Fleur.

"Can't you just let mum alone? She has run this household forever. Keep your nose out!"

"I on'ee made some suggestions!"

Hermione turned back and headed downstairs.

The kitchen was dark and quiet. Mrs. Weasley had gone to bed over an hour before. The smell of dinner, pot roast and potatoes, still hung heavy in the air. Hermione was glad she had her bag with her, and she settled herself at the table and pulled out her book. It seemed like a lovely time to do some reading. As she drew the book out, a little box also tumbled out of her bag.

Hermione had completely forgotten about the daydream charm she had gotten from the joke shop. The box felt light in her hands, and she shook it lightly. Something small jingled around. She opened it carefully, still wary of the potential for trickery.

Inside, she was surprised to find a little necklace. A braided leather cord held a small metal circle. On the circle, she could make out a rune. It was the symbol laguz, she recalled from her studies. It was for imagination. Once again she was struck by how clever the boys were, taking advantage of the inherent magic of rune words, and enhancing them with a small spell of their own.

Feeling curious and more than a little reckless, she decided to try it. As a prefect, she had spent so much time legislating the twins that she hadn't had much time to appreciate all the work that went into what they did. Not to mention, she had no desire to make herself sick by way of their sweets. But this was different. Daydreaming was nice and safe.

She tied the necklace around her neck, and felt the cool charm settle on the skin of her neck hollow. It was light, almost weightless. She felt no magic at first. For several moments she wondered if anything would happen.

Then she noticed she was no longer in the kitchen. She was up in the room she shared with Ginny, curled up in a large armchair by the window, reading her favorite book. Had she just fallen asleep and dreamt about the charm? It wouldn't have surprised her. Her life had been so hectic lately, with the constant research for Harry, and the struggle to keep up on school work. But why didn't she remember coming up to read for fun?

Hermione realized slowly that she was not alone on the plushy chair. She was curled up with her back against a warm body. Someone wrapped an arm around her, hugging her closer, and she felt comfortable. The person's other hand played with a curl of her hair. She looked down to see the arm was pale and freckled. It was at this moment that Hermione was sure it was the daydream charm. Ron was probably not the type to cuddle her as she read, even if she sometimes wanted him to.

She felt as though this moment of comfort stretched on for some time. She read, or pretended to read, as the strong warm fingers drew lazy circles on her arm. She was distracted by the gentle tug at her curls, and once she could have sworn she heard a voice whisper "boing".

"Of course I am dull enough to just be reading…" she said to herself. She didn't realize she had said it within the daydream until a playful voice responded.

"You're not dull at all. You're adorable when you're reading."

Hermione jumped out of the chair with lightning speed. It was not Ron's voice who had responded. It was not Ron's eyes into which she was now staring.

"Surprise?" Fred questioned, his brow furrowed slightly. He looked sad at their loss of contact, and struggled to sit up. "I didn't think you were so deep in your reading that you forgot I was here."

"Fred, why are you here? I thought…" Hermione couldn't figure out what to say. Her face grew warm with embarrassment.

"What do you mean, why am I here? We were spending some time together. You're always so busy, and we had a moment to ourselves." He responded, as though this were just a normal response. He reached out and grabbed her hand. His work-calloused hand felt strange on her own. It felt rough, but it also felt right. Almost against her better judgement, she found her fingers intertwining with his. He was sweet, and smart. He paid attention to her when she talked, and valued her opinion (even if he often had to ignore it to pursue his fun).

She shook her head. This wasn't real. What was she doing, trying to rationalize these feelings? She was finally beginning to understand. Of course a charm she got in a joke shop was going to be a joke. It wasn't a daydream of her own creation. It was manufactured by the boys. I wonder how many girls had gone to daydream of their boyfriends or crushes only to see Fred or George Weasley. She wished she was more frustrated, but at a certain level she could still only see it as clever. It was one thing to create a daydream charm that was nearly undetectable and felt so real, it was another to be able to manipulate the content of those daydreams. She would have to ask them how they did it.

In the meantime she returned to the chair, and read her favorite book for the duration of the daydream. Fred sat on the bed nearby, watching her with a puzzled expression. She found herself comforted by his presence, even as she was confused by it.

When the charm finally ended, she moved to take off the necklace, but found herself pausing. It was simple, and pretty, and she liked the rune sign. Not to mention, in these times everyone could use a reminder to hold on to their dreams and imagination.

Author's Note: I just love the idea of Fred and Hermione together, and if you've come this far I bet you do too. Not that Ron's a problem or anything, but everything just fell so nicely and simply into place. I think this would have been more interesting.