A.N.: Here's your next dose of fluff. I hope I am doing alright. Writing fluff is always pretty hard for me, but I decided to practise that through writing this story. So: if you're looking for angst: look in one of my other stories. ;-)
This chapter was betaed by the brilliant lilvictoire. Thank you for helping out, my friend.
One Kiss a day...
… is the perfect way to flirt with you
When Hermione left her new room about half an hour later, she could see Fred lounging on the sofa, a book in hand while his feet were propped up in front of him. It was such an unexpected sight for Hermione, that she stopped in her tracks for a moment and simply stared at the man.
"Found everything?" Fred asked before he looked at her with twinkling eyes, putting the book aside. Hermione could barely glimpse at the title. To her surprise, it was a book on advanced transfiguration techniques. Somehow she had expected something Quidditch related but now she realized she might have confused Fred with Ron on that matter. Obviously, she had still much to learn about her new husband. But considering the products he and George sold in their shop they had to have a vast knowledge of Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions at the very least.
"I did," she replied and plastered a friendly smile on her lips. "The room is nice. I might repaint the walls at some point, though. Orange isn't really such a relaxing colour for me."
Fred chuckled, while Hermione's lips twitched into a nervous smile. Now, that they were alone together in the flat, the awkwardness started to creep in. What should they do now? Was there even some mutual interest they could talk about? Inwardly she cursed the Ministry for just wildly throwing people into arranged marriages, without even taking their personalities into consideration.
"I can imagine," Fred said in a casual tone. "It's not my favourite colour either, even though it does match the hair. Still, I decided to paint my bedroom in blue. Do you want to see?"
Hermione stared at him with wide eyes, her heart suddenly hammering in her chest. Did he just suggest… but no, that's not what he said. He just wanted to show her the flat, right? "I… alright, show me," she mumbled a moment later, her cheeks flushed pink.
Fred grinned at her and jumped from the sofa, his features totally unconcerned. His room was right next to hers, she realized, and indeed he had painted the walls a dark blue. Hermione had expected the walls to be filled with Quidditch posters, but there wasn't a single one in here. And so her eyes were drawn to the big, king-sized bed instead, that took up almost half of the room. Somehow she had expected him to sleep in a single-bed too, but a moment later she remembered that they were married now, and what that would entail. They were supposed to share a bed now.
"It's a nice room," she said, her mouth suddenly feeling dry. Then she felt her heart start fluttering nervously in her chest and this time it wasn't in a good way. "I… how are we going to do this, Fred? This all went so fast and I… I don't know what I'm actually doing… or am supposed to do and…" she felt herself panic. "Do you expect me to sleep here?"
Fred slowly stepped in front of her and his eyes sought her out with nothing but kindness. "Stop panicking, Hermione. We'll find a way to do this, to make this marriage work, alright?"
She nodded silently, unable to take her eyes off his brown eyes. They were the colour of chocolate, she realized.
"Good. The Ministry has meddled with our lives enough as it is. But they did give us a week to consumate this marriage, which at least gives us the time to grow comfortable with one another." Fred sighed and Hermione saw him tussle his hair tiredly. "For now, we aren't forced to do anything, Mione, not even sleeping in the same bed if that's not what we want. You're welcome here anytime though, but I'm not going to be put out if you'd rather keep your distance."
Hermione searched his eyes, hoping to find some clue on what he wanted her to do. Would he want her to stay with him? Or would he merely tolerate her presence? She did not know, but she guessed Fred was right. They would have to get used to each other sooner or later. "I'll be sleeping here then," she said, deciding that she had shared a tent with Ron and Harry for months. She could sleep in a bed with Fred Weasley, there wasn't that much of a difference, right? "But only if you really don't mind."
"No, it's fine," the redhead assured her with a shrug and a smile. "But not before we have toasted us tying the knot. Mum sent us a nice bottle of wine. We could drink it together on the sofa, what do you think?"
Hermione thought that it actually sounded nice, even though getting drunk with Fred Weasley was probably a dangerous idea. But what was the worst that could happen? Them ending up in bed, restraint loosened by the alcohol and shagging each other's brains out? Considering the requirements of that stupid law, that didn't actually sound like such a stupid idea.
ssssssss
Fred could not help but think that Hermione was suddenly behaving like a shy, scared animal in his presence. It was strange, considering that they knew each other for years and the pretty brunette had scolded him and his brother more than once, never showing hesitation or shyness towards them. But now things were different, he guessed, considering that the Ministry had done its best to make their post-war lives as miserable as possible.
He had already guessed that the girl did not have much experience with boys, even though there had been rumours about her snogging Viktor Krum in the past. But her reaction to seeing his bed made him pretty sure that she was still a virgin. Great, another thing complicating this already messed up situation. He guessed he would have to deal with it, no they would. But first, he would let the girl get used to sharing a bed with him, maybe cuddling with him, before he would suggest something more.
"How about we play a game of wizarding chess?" he asked in the hope to distract her, as she had already lowered her glass of wine after a few sips, staring at it awkwardly. "Or would you rather just snog a bit?"
She shrugged. "I am not very good at playing wizarding chess," she admitted with a faint smile. "Usually it was just Ron and Harry playing, with Harry losing time after time. I mostly just watched and felt sorry for his poor chess pieces."
Fred grinned. "You wouldn't feel sorry for those," he said and pointed towards a chess set he had stored on one of the shelves. It was one of his and George's creations. "No one gets beaten up here. Instead, the figures just flirt shamelessly, until one starts snogging the other. The loser has to leave the chessboard, of course, but mostly due to being breathless or too thoroughly snogged to even stand." He winked at her suggestively. "Sometimes it happens that both of the chess pieces leave the chess board in the end, and make out at the corner of the table. It makes the game pretty unpredictable but also so much more fun." He snickered. "The game was actually George's idea. We plan on producing it for the shop, what do you think?"
Hermione smiled. "It sounds like a fun game, but Ron probably would not like it, as your enchantment would probably mess up his strategy more than once. But for casual players, it sounds great!"
He beamed at her. "Does that mean you want to play?
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Why not?"
ssssssss
When Hermione stumbled into Fred's bedroom two hours later, she had had too much alcohol and even more fun. She had barely managed to put on her checkered pyjamas, as she had stumbled a few times while doing so. But she did not care, not really. Fred was at least a bit tipsy himself and they had been giggling wildly before they decided that it was time to go to bed. The pile of chess pieces was much too occupied snogging in one corner and refused to line up for another game and there was not much use in trying to convince them otherwise. Not that Hermione had tried very hard to do so.
Instead, Hermione had stared at them with wide eyes, because what Fred forgot to mention before was that the chess figures resembled people they knew. One chess team was formed by several Weasleys as well as Harry, herself, and some other members of the Quidditch team, each and every piece wearing their Gryffindor colours proudly on the chest. The other team consisted of several other students, most of them Hufflepuffs as well as Ravenclaws, but there was also a stunning Slytherin Prefect somewhere in between, that proudly posed as the queen of Fred's team. Fred explained that the chess pieces' appearances could be changed at will by whoever would be buying a game from them, which was a brilliant idea, Hermione thought. Only that it was kind of embarrassing to see herself make out with not one, but two Weasleys, the twins nonetheless. She had stared at the scene with pink cheeks for a while, before she saw Fred watching her. Then she hastily turned away.
"Like what you see?" Fred asked her and Hermione realized that he was suddenly standing right behind her. They did not touch, but she could already feel the heat his body was radiating and somehow feeling it, made her shiver.
Hermione found that she could not reply at first, her brain seemed to have somehow switched off, probably due to the two glasses of wine she had enjoyed. But finally, her wit recovered somehow and she said: "Well, I am kind of surprised that your version of Harry ended up with the Slytherin girl from the other team. Don't tell Ginny about that. She'd probably not like that."
At that, Fred had chuckled and his presence behind her had disappeared, Hermione suddenly felt cold. It was ridiculous, of course, but all of a sudden she realized that she did not mind sharing a bed with the handsome redhead at all.
Fred was already lying in bed when she finally joined him in his room. He had picked the right side of the bed for himself so Hermione padded to the other side, tipsily slipping under the covers.
"Fred?" she asked, as soon as the boy had switched off the light and put his wand on the nightstand. Now she heard the bedcovers rustle and she felt him turn in her direction.
"What is it, love?" he asked, his voice gentle. Hermione smiled at the endearment.
"Thanks for making this evening fun. I'm sure you could tell how nervous I was about the whole thing," Hermione admitted, her voice barely more than a whisper. "But you know what? I'm glad they paired me with you. I know I'm probably not what you…"
She did not get any further, as she was suddenly silenced by his finger on her lips. "None of that, love," he said and again it felt like he was lying right in front of her. She could feel his breath tickling her face. But she could not see him, as the room was completely dark. "Didn't you see our chess pieces? Little Fred and George end up with you more often than not. We did have kind of a teenage crush on you, you know?"
For a moment, Hermione did not know what to say. "Really?" she asked, her voice full of disbelief. "When?"
Fred did not answer her right away and Hermione thought that he might regret his confession. She was just about to tell him he did not need to answer, when he said: "Sometime after the Yule Ball, I think. But I guess for a while after that particular event, half of the male Hogwarts population fancied you." He chuckled. "I guess most of us were too much of a coward to act on it, Georgie and I included. So one could say, I consider myself a lucky bastard right now."
Hermione could feel her head swimming with different thoughts, thoughts about what could have been if Fred had told her this a few years ago. Would they have dated? Would he and George maybe even have accompanied themon the hunt for Horcruxes? Maybe. But then she realized, she did not want to think about what-if's, if that kind, handsome wizard was lying in front of her, right now. "Then let's just agree, that we both consider ourselves lucky right now," she said before a gigantic yawn escaped her mouth.
"Tired?" she heard Fred ask an amused undertone in his voice.
Hermione nodded. "I am. Was too nervous to sleep last night."
"Me, too," Fred admitted, his voice only a whisper. "But now I realize that I shouldn't have been." A moment later she could feel his hand on her cheek, while his thumb stroked her skin ever so slightly. "You know what? I'd like to propose another rule for this marriage. Somehow I think it's only fair, that I am giving you one kiss a day, too. Don't you think?"
There was no time for her to answer, as his lips were on hers a second later. But Hermione sure as hell wasn't complaining. Instead, she felt herself sighing against his mouth, her body relaxing into the pillow, while she enjoyed feeling Fred's soft lips dancing against her own. There was no choice for her but kissing him back, her hand shyly travelling to his chest where it came to rest over his heart.
"I think I like that idea," she whispered a moment later, when the redhead pulled away from her, much too soon. "Getting my daily kiss from you, I mean. It makes me look forward to tomorrow," she said, a smile blossoming on her face. How could she have ever feared that she would not like kissing him?
"Me, too," Fred mumbled, his arms carefully closing around her body and pulling her close, so that her nose was soon buried in his T-shirt. He smelled of grass and gunpowder, Hermione thought and she realized that she really liked the scent. Then another yawn escaped her mouth and she realized how tired she actually was. Cuddling with Fred Weasley and falling asleep in his arms - it maybe wasn't how she had envisioned her wedding night to be, but it felt wonderful nonetheless - in its very own way.
