A Bright Sunny Failure

Sunday morning came far too soon for Fred. He had spent the night planning and daydreaming, and had only been asleep for a few hours when George shook him awake. Sundays were the days they went to the Burrow for breakfast, because the shop didn't open until noon. He sat up, bleary eyed and exhausted. He ran his hands through his hair, fluffing the sleep matted locks.

He could hear George cleaning up the flat as he pulled on his pinstriped pants. The clink of butterbeer bottles as they were set in the rubbish bin made a strange sort of musical addition to his morning. The close of cabinets and the whistle of the tea kettle added to the sounds of normalcy. For a moment, Fred could almost feel like this was the easy life he and his brother had always dreamed about. For just a moment, thoughts of war didn't hang at the edges of his thoughts.

His blue shirt, the color of a clear summer sky, matched the stripes in his pants. It felt good to be able to look professional and put together. Fred had never felt particularly disadvantaged by all the things his family didn't have. Money was nothing compared to family, friends, and laughter. But he had to admit that it was nice to worry less about where clothes and food would come from. The joke shop definitely had perks beyond the fun.

He slipped on his shoes and bounded down the stairs from his room. His twin looked up and smirked when he saw him.

"You look like you got electrocuted." George said, pouring hot water into the two tea mugs on the counter. He handed a bright orange mug bearing the Chudley Cannon's logo to Fred.

"Ah, Merlin…" Fred grumped, and started fixing his hair in the reflection of the spoon from his tea. It took a few moments to get his thick hair under control, but finally he felt he might look presentable.

"I gave you Pep-Up tea. I figured you could use the energy, brother mine." George said, sipping at his own tea. His cup bore the symbol of the Holyhead Harpies.

"Thanks. That sounds great." Fred replied, sipping at his own tea. The hot citrus flavor was surprising, since he rarely took any tea other than Earl Grey. Instantly he started to feel more alive, despite his lack of sleep.

"Let's go, brother. Time to face the Burrow. And the girl." George said, glancing at their clock. The old grandfather unit stood tall and proud in their apartment, but the face had been modified to tell them if they were early, late, extremely late, or on time. It recorded this not only for them, but also for their various family members. They felt this worked better for them than the style of clock their mother had. They both had a habit of running behind. And even now their hands were both very close to ticking into the late category. So away they apparated, into the morning.

Hermione was already annoyed. Her daydream from the previous evening was still floating around in her head, and she was exploding to give Fred and George a piece of her mind. On top of that, Harry was still looking very worked up and Ron looked exhausted. She had a feeling the two of them probably spent the entire night talking about what Draco Malfoy might be up to. Harry kept trying to make meaningful eye contact with her, and she was dutifully avoiding his gaze. She just couldn't take anymore of Harry's theories.

At some level, though she would never admit it out loud, Hermione felt that what had happened at the Ministry was because Harry couldn't keep his nose out of the adventure. She would have hoped that he might have changed after that experience. But the incident seemed to fill Harry with a new sense of heroism, rather than diminishing his aspirations. Hermione understood his feelings. She could even understand the desire to get back at Malfoy, since it was his family who was doing so much of the damage to Harry's life. But to go so far as to think that 16 year old Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater? It just seemed so far-fetched. Almost as far-fetched as a 16 year old savior.

She shook her head and sighed. Then she realized she was sitting at the breakfast table, and everyone had turned to look at her. Just as her cheeks began to heat up she heard two cracks that signalled the arrival of the twins. They were both dressed in their Sunday best, pinstriped pants and shirts in fun, bright colors, with a bouquet of flowers for their mother. The bright yellow and orange carnations put an instant smile on the Weasley matron's face. They both gave her a kiss in greeting, and took their seats at the table, as natural as the days they lived there.

Hermione finally looked up at Fred, peeking through her morning mess of curls, and she was surprised to find him looking back at her. He quickly turned away when he realized they had locked eyes, and made a show of joining the conversation George was having with their father. But she could see him stealing glances at her from time to time.

After enduring this through her morning toast, Hermione had finally reached a boiling point in her frustration. She pushed her plate away, eggs and sausages untouched, and left the room. She could no longer stand the looks, the whispered conversation between Harry and Ron, and pretending she was alright.

Mrs. Weasley looked after her with worry, but the motherly woman decided not to comment. She knew the children were under immense amounts of stress, what with the incident at the Ministry still so recent. It seemed no one else had noticed, except for the tall redhead whose gaze followed her out of the room.

Back in her room, Hermione began packing some of her things. The act of finding all of her books and stacking them in her trunk was calming. She was so busy with her work that she didn't realize that someone had come to stand in the doorway. So, when she turned to see one of the twins watching her she squeaked with horror.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. You were just so focused, you didn't hear when I said your name." the boy told her quietly, looking almost bashful.

Hermione realized it was Fred upon closer inspection. He was slightly more angular in the face than his twin, and he paid more attention to the set of his hair. It was always parted toward his left eye, and left to look sort of messy-on-purpose, as though he didn't truly care about it.

"Yeah, I guess I was." Hermione replied. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair, trying to tame her mane of curls. She winced a few times as she caught her fingers on her curls. "What's up? Why are you standing there?" She asked, looking away from him. For a moment she wondered if she was suffering from some residual daydream charm.

"I...uh, I noticed you were wearing the necklace still…" He said, pointing even though she wasn't looking at him. "I was just wondering how it went. Those are still pretty new, so product reviews would really help us."

"I guess I stick by my original statement. It's an extraordinary piece of magic. It was awfully clever of you guys to be able to create daydreams in the first place, let alone control the content of them." She paused and peeked at him to see if his reaction gave him away. She was surprised to see his face pucker in confusion. "I wonder if you've gotten anyone angry, thinking they would just dream about their crushes, and instead getting one of you two. I know I was a little put-off. Caught off guard, I guess... It's just a rather hurtful trick!" Her words tumbled from her unexpectedly. She hadn't realized how agitated she had become until the feelings were already on their way out.

Fred's expression was unreadable as Hermione turned to look him fully in the eyes. For a moment she thought she saw the ghost of a smile in his eyes, but the next moment it was gone. He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Sorry if it upset you Hermione. I am glad you still think it's good magic, though. I guess we're just too clever for our own good. I'll let George know we should make some that are less conceited," he said. He broke eye contact with her suddenly, looking around the room.

"I hope you and Ginny have a good year...I...uh, George and I brought you guys this basket of goodies to get you through the first part of the year. 5th and 6th year are full of studying, after all." Fred handed her a basket wrapped in sparkling blue paper. "It's got sugar quills, and chocolate frogs, another couple daydream charms, and some nice parchment. I thought you especially might like that."

Hermione accepted the basket with a smile, and Fred felt his heart flutter. They stood in awkward silence for a long 30 seconds. He said a short goodbye and left the room. He couldn't believe he had chickened out so horribly.

"So, how'd the present go, brother mine?" George asked, standing in the doorway of Percy's old room.

"I told her it was for Ginny and her to share…" Fred replied, and George groaned in sympathy.

"I just couldn't… she thought we had tricked her." As he said it, he couldn't hold in his emotions any longer. "Georgie… she thought the daydream charms were tricks that made people see us."

"You mean?" George smiled, a smile mirrored by his twin.

"She had a daydream about me. She likes me too, George. Even if she doesn't know it yet." Fred's heart felt like it could fly.