Author's Note
Hey everyone, sorry it's been a while, I've been moving house for the past few months with very little internet but I'm back now!
TRIGGER WARNING: the assault briefly mentioned at the end of the last chapter is also in the first paragraph of this one - if you don't want to read that bit then just skip the first paragraph and start from "She ran."
Love you all,
Wishin' Girl x x x
...
Hermione's head was hazy and her concentration fluttered as she attempted to think through the splitting pain in her skull. No longer needing to hold her head in place he slid one hand under her coat and went for the flies of her trousers while palming her breasts over her coat with the other, but when she opened her mouth in shock at what he was attempting to force her into he shoved his tongue between her lips. She struggled to think but trusted her instincts so bit down hard on his intruding tongue causing him to yelp in pain, using that moment of distraction to her advantage she kneed him in the stomach and shoved him just far enough away to slip out under his arm.
She ran.
She could hear his footsteps and shouts behind her so didn't dare slow down long enough to get her wand out of her bag, the Leaky Cauldron was only a few minutes away so she splashed through puddles and dodged traffic frantically in her desire to get somewhere safe. The wizarding world suddenly felt safer than the muggle one for the first time in years but she didn't have time to reflect and marvel at that thought right now. Her mind was still hazy and her head pounded painfully as she sprinted with all her might. The angry voice of her ex boyfriend following her round every twist and turn.
She leapt through the concealed muggle entrance to the wizarding pub, finally escaping him and leaving her very confused ex boyfriend on the street outside and, still running from fear, made her way along the rainy cobblestone path to the twins' joke shop. Harry and Ron were working late tonight, Ginny had an evening training session with the Harpies, and she really didn't feel like being alone right now. She wanted to be somewhere safe and her subconscious thoughts told her that wherever Fred was was safe.
"Respite from the rain, and tempts for a mischievous brain!" she heard Fred call at the ding of the shop's bell as she entered, he stepped out from behind a nearby shelf he'd been restocking and rushed towards her "Hermione, why are you crying love?"
"Can I have a cup of tea?" She asked and collapsed into his arms, succumbing to her tears.
"George I'm heading up, finish restocking for me will you" shouted Fred as he carried Hermione up the flights of stairs to the twins' flat above.
He settled Hermione into an armchair and brought her a steaming mug of her favourite jasmine green tea before returning to the kitchen. As she sipped her hot drink Fred returned with a flannel, a bowl of warm water and several glass bottles of different Weasley made liquids and salves.
"I broke up with Justin" Hermione started to explain as he gently washed the congealing blood from the cut on the back of her head and healed her with spells and potions, thankfully she gave a negative test result to the diagnosis charms for concussion and broken bones, so she missed the short flash of delight on Fred's otherwise worried face as she stared into her cup "He didn't take it so well. He, um… well… can I stay here tonight?"
She didn't tell him any more about what had happened and he trusted her to tell him when she was ready. His anger that that sorry excuse for a man might have been the one to cause the cut on her head and her pounding headache that Fred was currently feeding her painkilling potions for was very close to becoming murderous right now in his protectiveness, so he didn't pressure her to go into detail if she didn't want to, partly to stop himself from hunting down and killing the bloke. The twins bought takeaway pizza for the three of them and Angelina, who had popped by to visit George again, to share for dinner and they spent the evening playing exploding snap with increasingly ridiculous house rules.
"What's going on between George and Ange?" Hermione asked after the other girl had gone home and George was in bed.
"They like each other but he's not plucked up the nerve to ask her out yet" answered Fred, handing her a t-shirt to borrow for sleeping in and feeling rather hypocritical with his comment "she's playing hard to get though which is not helping."
She nodded and gratefully accepted the offered band t-shirt before padding into the attached bathroom to wash her face and change. He quickly threw on his pajama bottoms and took a blanket out into the lounge. Once he was settled on the sofa he heard her voice from the doorway to his bedroom.
"Would you mind sharing with me tonight?" She asked sheepishly "I don't want to feel alone."
Lifting his gaze to the source of the voice Fred swallowed dryly at the sight and nodded. The woman he was in love with was leaning against the doorframe to his bedroom with her hair up in a messy bun and arms crossed against her chest wearing only his t-shirt and her panties, he caught a glimpse of the colourful cotton covering her perfect booty when she turned and walked back to the bed.
"No." a groan escaped his lips involuntarily and he told his body firmly "She's just broken up with her boyfriend. We need to give her time and respect." After waiting for his lower half to calm down he followed her and slid in between the sheets beside her where she snuggled her back against his chest and pulled his arm to wrap around her waist.
"Goodnight Fred" she murmured sleepily
"Goodnight love" he breathed.
...
"Well?" George poked his twin the next morning once Hermione had gone home to get ready for the work day "What happened between you two last night?"
"Nothing, literally nothing at all" Fred groaned in frustration "she just broke up with the muggle yesterday, she needs time before I ask her out. I don't want to be a rebound."
"Don't wait too long though mate, she's a very desirable witch." His twin wisely recommended.
…
Hermione had been having a great time at work and she and Marcell started dating at the beginning of February, much to Fred's increasing frustration with himself and George's repeated shouts of 'I told you so' whenever she came up in conversation. His very helpful twin even turned the phrase into a very annoying song which he sang at every opportunity. However, Fred missing out spurred George into action and he and Angelina started dating on Valentine's day.
By the end of April however Hermione had worked out that Marcell was only interested in her fame so she had promptly broken it off with him and announced, over Sunday dinner at the burrow, that she was done with men.
She focussed all her spare time back on the search for her parents and in early June, with the help of Fred, had a completed list of all the Monica and Wendell Wilkins living in Australia.
"These five couples are the most likely" she said pointing at the list on the table, she really had done a great job choosing such well used names "they're all dentists, but we should keep the details of the others just in case my parents decided to change careers too."
Fred had loved learning how to use muggle technology like computers with Hermione and spending so much time with her again.
"Okay, so I'll book us a portkey to Canberra for the first of July and you'll book us all return travel on the airy-planes after we've found them, right?" confirmed Fred as he highlighted the names she'd pointed at. Brightly coloured highlighter quills were now in development in the twins' workshop and would be going on sale at the WWW shop for the school rush in August.
The pair apparated from an empty street near the muggle library to Diagon Alley. Hermione used the shop's floo to travel back to the manor and start packing while Fred walked to Gringotts to collect the money for the portkey before apparating to the ministry and booking them travel for the first of July.
…
Less than three weeks later and the pair were packed and ready to go, Fred had a rucksack that Hermione had added her extension charm to and she her beaded bag with everything they might need on their travels. They had spent the evening before celebrating Harry's and Ginny's engagement at the Dragon's Roar, so Fred was slightly hungover when they met at the Leaky Cauldron to floo to the ministry. A new visitors floo had been added there that spring by Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt and Hannah Abbot, the Leaky's new owner, to 'make the ministry more accessible'.
Hermione pressed a small glass vial into Fred's palm when he flinched at her high pitched squeal of excitement.
"Hangover cure" she explained "I adapted it from a pepper up for my final potions coursework."
"Have I ever told you how proud I am of you for achieving all Os in your NEWTs?" Fred asked once his mind cleared after downing the steaming green liquid.
"Yes, about a hundred times at graduation and a good few dozen since." she laughed and threw a handful of emerald powder into the floo "The Ministry of Magic!"
"Miss Granger and Mr Weasley here for our portkey to the Wizarding Governance Hall, Australia" Fred stated as he handed over their paperwork at the international portkey office and had their bags scanned by a security witch.
Half an hour later and the nauseating spinning of portkey travel had thankfully stopped. Fred was even more thankful then for Hermione's excellent grades as his breakfast stayed firmly inside him thanks to her miraculous hangover cure potion.
"Welcome to Canberra" a friendly voice greeted "head over this way and we'll sort out any visas you need"
Fred grabbed Hermione's hand to keep her steady after all the spinning and led her over to the desk where a blonde lady with a wide smile battered her eyelashes at Fred, she was very pretty and flirtatious but the red head didn't even notice.
"Enjoy your stay" the busty blonde said in a much less friendly voice than she had used to begin with since she obviously hadn't got the desired reaction of the ginger man, causing Hermione to stifle her giggles at Fred's obliviousness to the blonde's flirting "here are your visas and the contact details for your embassy are on the back in case you need them."
It was winter in Australia but both Hermione and Fred were surprised by the heat, it felt more like late spring than midwinter so the pair stuffed their jackets back into their bags and headed off to Sydney by apparition where the first couple on their list lived. They had apparated to a wizarding hotel overlooking the harbour and Fred, still firmly grasping Hermione's hand, led them up the wide concrete steps and into a spacious foyer. They had agreed that Fred would cover all wizarding money costs and Hermione would only pay for muggle transactions. It had taken a few weeks to agree on the compromise as Hermione said he was helping enough by accompanying her and Fred argued that as the shop did so well it would be more logical for him to pay while she was earning less. He joked that when she was a big shot lawyer earning millions of galleons a week then she could lavish him with gifts in return.
"A room for two please" Fred requested when they reached the glass reception desk.
"A twin room if possible" Hermione clarified as she spun around slowly to take in the elegant decor of the foyer.
"We have three rooms available but they are all doubles I am afraid" the receptionist showed Fred images of the three and nodded as Fred chose the middle one. "Excellent choice, if you will follow me please."
They were ushered into a lift and taken all the way up to the second to top floor. After unlocking a door the maitre d' handed Hermione the room key and left the pair to get settled in.
Hermione pushed open the door and gasped. The far wall of the room was made entirely of sliding glass doors which opened onto a balcony overlooking the harbour, bridge and iconic opera house. The lights of the city sparkled and glittered below the cloudless night sky. There was a king sized bed looking towards the window, a desk and two armchairs to one side and a wardrobe and door on the other. The door led to an en-suite housing a walk in shower with views over the city to match the balcony's and a selection of luxurious complementary toiletries.
Hermione made immediate use of the almond shower oil to refresh herself before slipping on a cotton pair of her pajama booty shorts and a baggy t-shirt of Fred's. She stepped out onto their balcony alone to enjoy the fresh air and view but Fred's arm soon snaked around her waist once he was also ready for bed.
"It's beautiful isn't it love" he breathed in her ear and she shivered involuntarily "are you cold?" he added pulling her further into his warm bulky arms.
She shook her head but snuggled into his embrace. Her crush on the twin had been hitting her hard since they'd started researching her parents together and she hadn't even looked at another man since. She was pretty sure she had fallen for Fred and, after over-analysing his actions towards her for weeks, had decided that just maybe he could like her after all. He spent time with her and not just when they were around all the other Weasley's, he always seemed to genuinely care how she was, he really listened to her when she spoke and went out of his way to make sure she had all her favourite things around her. That kiss at New Years Eve kept replaying in her head too, he couldn't be too repulsed by her if he was willing to kiss her even if he had disappeared immediately after. Right?
"Fred can I ask you a question?" She asked in an uncharacteristically timid tone.
"You already have love," he chuckled "but ask as many as you like. I promise to be truthful but I don't promise to answer yet."
"Why did you offer to come with me?"
"I care about you" he answered after a moment of careful thought.
"In what capacity?" she asked quickly before her nerves could seize control of her vocal chords.
"Ask me a different question" his thumb caressed the fabric over her stomach and he dropped a kiss onto her wild curls.
"Why do you call me love?" she asked, emboldened by his non-verbal response to her previous question.
"Ask me again in a few weeks" he answered with a chuckle and the two stood in companionable silence enjoying the late night breeze before returning to their room and spooning each other to sleep.
