The next day passed in a blur. Hermione and her had downed a hangover potion before going into work that morning. Hermione had been on top form all day, but Deborah couldn't focus. Her mind was else where, thinking about him. On the top of the hill, against the wall of the joke shop, in the living room of the Burrow. The way his hair fell in front of his face, his laugh, the freckles on his cheeks. She couldn't stop. Hermione was pushing her along all day, she assumed Deborah was just feeling a little rough, and they would always help each other along when they were hungover. That evening, Hermione cooked her dinner and they watched a film. She laughed with Hermione to the rom-com, but spent half the film daydreaming. They both went to bed early, they had a big meeting the next day with people from the Ministry in Bulgaria. Over the past couple of weeks, Hermione had been fretting over this meeting and they had been planning everything thoroughly. She had to be on top form tomorrow.

The meeting had been a huge success, and their boss was elated with them. The Bulgarian officials had been starstruck just from meeting Hermione, and both of them sailed through their presentations seamlessly, answering every question eloquently. On cloud nine, they returned to their shared office. As soon as the door shut behind them, they hugged and danced around the room together, all their hand work had paid off. A knock on their door caused them to stop dancing, they opened the door to a smartly dressed official, the Bulgarian officials had invited them for dinner this evening, at the fanciest place in London. Annabel's. They graciously accepted.

After their work day was over, they went home to get ready. They took their time, they deserved to feel glamorous and treat themselves tonight. As she got ready, her mind drifted back to Fred, she wished that one day he could see her dressed to the nines, and they could enjoy an indulgent evening together. She needed to write to him, or maybe she could do one better. Once she was ready, in a black satin dress, all her nicest jewellery, and her hair in curls down her back, she met Hermione in their living room. Hermione somehow always looked effortlessly chic.

"Do you mind if we make one quick stop on the way to dinner?" She said to Hermione, walking to her side.

"Do I need to ask where?" Hermione smirked back at her, knowingly.

Deborah winked at her friend. "You know me all to well. We can apparate together, take my hand."

With a pop they were outside the joke shop, Deborah's stomach fluttering nervously. The shop was now closed, so they walked to the door and pressed the bell for the flat above the shop. Hermione glanced over to her. "This is such a good little plan I'm surprised Ginny didn't come up with it."

They heard footsteps descending stairs in the distance, and a shout that sounded like 'hold on a minute'. Footsteps quickly approached the door, and the door swung open.

"Hel-... Deborah." He stumbled over his words, as his eyes raked up and down her, mouth hanging open slightly. He seemed to regain his composure. "To what do I owe the pleasure." He leant on the doorframe, smiling down at her.

Now it was Deborah's turn to return the favour. He was wearing a tight quidditch t-shirt, and jogging bottoms that hung low on his hips. How could someone look so good with so little effort.

"We were just heading out, and I thought I should pop by and see if you were free tomorrow night? For another date?" She said cooly. "I have a great idea where we could go."

"Tomorrow. Erm, yeah. We shut the shop for six, so we could meet here at seven?"

"It's a date." She beamed up to him. She was gonna take him on the best date he had been on. It was what he deserved for taking her on that beautiful walk.

"Great." He reach out to tilt her chin upwards, he leant down from the doorframe to press a gentle kiss to her lips. "You look beautiful. Have fun wherever you are going tonight, you too Hermione!" He shot a cheeky smile over to Hermione, who just nodded thanks to him in response.

"See you tomorrow then." She looked over her shoulder waving, as her and Hermione walked away. He continued to stand in the doorway.

"Can't take his eyes off of you!" Hermione chuckled, and they linked arms, apparating away to dinner.

The dinner was delightful. The most exquisite food she had even experienced, all paid for by the Bulgarian Ministry. She noticed Hermione taking notes on dishes she liked, hoping she could include it in her wedding menu. The company was wonderful too, conversation flowed quite naturally, but Deborah was sure that the men were flirting with them both. Although a bit a flirting is harmless, it was amusing to see Hermione get flustered by some of their more direct comments. She didn't respond well to it, which is probably how she had ended up with Ron. After the evening drew to a close, the pay bid the Bulgarian Officials farewell and knew they had secured easier and friendly relations for the future.

Now they were both at work, their boss had allowed them to have a light workload today, and a long lunch, because of their hard work from the previous day. This meant they finished off and reviewed random bits of paperwork, while chattering away to one another.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Asked Hermione, not even raising her eyes from the report she was going through.

"He took me to one of his favourite places, so we are going to go to one of mine." Deborah said. Hermione gave her a questioning glance now, wondering which favourite place she was referring too. She continued, "I'm taking him to The Vaults."

"You are taking Fred Weasley to a muggle music bar." Hermione spluttered, covering her mouth to hold in a laugh.

Some of her old friends from the muggle world had introduced her to The Vaults, and she in turn had introduced Hermione. Since they both liked to keep a connection with the muggle world, it was nice for them to go out together without the use of magic for a change, and The Vaults was now their regular spot. Deborah always thought Hermione enjoyed to go out without being recognised too, to get her anonymity back for a night. And this bar played the best music, and live music, so they could always dance the night away.

"I think he'll enjoy it, and he won't have been on a date like this before." She reasoned with her friend. "I want it to be a night to remember, you know."

"It that kind of night is it?" Hermione said, her attention now leaving her report completely. "I was going to be in the flat tonight, but I suppose I could head over to Ron's if you wanted? Let you two have the flat for the night." She raised her brows suggestively.

"Hermione! You are being so presumptive!" Deborah said, blushing slightly. "Besides, I'm not going to kick you out of your own flat, for something that probably isn't going to happen."

Hermione smirked, and looked back down to the parchment in front of her. "Right, if you say so." She chimed.

The rest of the day passed quickly. With such a light workload, they were able to breeze through and get everything completed with time to chat in between. They even got to leave half an hour early, which was a blessing, as they spent many nights finishing late. The next few hours flew by, Hermione put more effort into getting Deborah ready than Deborah herself did. While they were getting her ready, Hermione had told her she loved the second hand excitement she was getting from Fred and Deborah dating each other, because it reminded her of going on her first few proper dates with Ron. How she wished she could relive the firsts of their relationship. Before Deborah knew it, it was time for her to leave. With a new sense of familiarity, she apparated to the joke shop.

She smoothed her dress down as she took the couple of steps towards the front door of the shop. Nervous eyes stared back at her, her own reflection in the window of shop. She rang the bell, and waited as she listened to footsteps descend stairs and approach the door. It swung open. He looked good, as always. A unique suit, one of those that he would wear around the shop, and his fiery hair pushed messily out of his face.

"Come in!" He held the door open for her to walk into the shop. "Do we need to floo somewhere? The suspense is killing me." He closed and locked the door behind her, looking at her impatiently.

"You'll have to apparate with me if that's okay." She replied, giving a small smile. He was acting like a small child being asked to wait for sweets.

"Interesting. Where are we going? It's been on my mind all day, I thought George was going to lock me in the cupboard at one point." He laughed.

She held out her hand towards him. "You will have to wait and see." She said, teasing him by raising her eyebrows. She was originally going to tell him, but seeing him be so excited made her want to hold on to the surprise. She had no idea how he would react to being in the muggle world. Pouting playfully, he took her hand, their fingers intertwined as if it was second nature to them. She gave him a look to check he was ready, and he nodded, and the world swirled around them.

They landed, and he looked around. "You've brought me on a date to a dark back alley. I'm such a lucky man." He turned to face her, speaking sarcastically. "Is this all just a ploy to get me alone and secluded? I'm very touched." He raised his hand to his heart, looking her in the eye.

"Oh shut it!" She smacked his chest lightly. "We are going to a bar, we just can't apparate there because it's, you know, a muggle bar." She continued, slightly nervously. But his face erupted into a huge grin, and he picked her up in a huge hug and swung her round.

"Wicked! Dad is going to be mad jealous when I tell him, he always wanted to go out in the muggle world." He now looked like a child who had been told they could have any sweets they wanted, but then his smile dropped a little. "Wait, I don't have any muggle money, so how am I going to pay?"

"I have muggle money to pay with, don't worry about that!" She said. She couldn't believe him not being able to pay was his biggest concern here.

"Mum would have me hanging from the washing line if she knew I let my date pay for everything." He frowned. "I'll have to pay you back."

"Molly never has to know, and if you are bothered about being equal, you'll have to give me a tour of the shop, and a few freebies and demonstrations." She flirted with him, grabbing his hand and lacing it with her own again.

He looked deep in thought for a minute, a blush creeping up his neck. "Deal." He replied, the corner of his mouth turning up slightly.

Deborah led them out of the alleyway, and down the long street before they reach The Vaults. It was quiet today as it was a weeknight, but the place still had a pleasant buzz. Fred looked amazed at everything, commenting on the amount of spirits and bottles behind the bar, the lights darting around the room and the fashion sense of everyone else there. She couldn't blame him, the wizarding world was so traditional, with a quirky twist, but the muggle world was so modern, and everything changed constantly. It must be weird to see this side of life so closely when you have only been surrounded by the other.

It took a good five minutes for her to describe the different types of drinks to him, but it was amusing. They had decided that they would try a few different things to see what he liked the best, she enjoyed watching him wince when he tried something he didn't like. He wasn't a fan of gin and tonic, he thought a sambuca shot should be made illegal, and a vodka coke made him feel sick. However, he enjoyed his pint of IPA, and the whiskey was going around a treat. By the time he had settled on whiskey on the rocks, they were both pretty tipsy from the weird combination of drinks they had consumed.

"Can I ask you something?" He said, as their last bout of laughter was drawing to a close. He his eyes looked quite serious. And she nodded, worried about what he could possibly want to ask. He looked down to the table, "We were all really shocked to hear about your mum, Ginny said she didn't even know. Do you remember her, or what happened?" He reached across and rested his hand on hers in the middle of the table.

"I wish I did, but I don't remember. I never understood what she did until I had the choice to fight or hide. I could never sit and watch as my friends were fighting, and neither could she, I like to think I got that from her." She smiled up at him. "When she died, my dad kept me from the magical world, thinking it would be safer for me. Then things kept happening. When I was young, he would put all the chocolate in a high cupboard so I couldn't reach, but I would always somehow get it. One night, years after this started happening, he walked into the kitchen and I was levitating a chocolate bar down to myself with my mind. He said that was the moment he knew, that I had to go to Hogwarts. Bless him." She started laughing and he joined in with her.

"Who is so desperate for chocolate that they can use wandless magic to get it? I thought magic in young kids was all down to extreme emotion?" Fred said, in between laughs.

"I was a chubby kid, and I LOVED chocolate! That's a strong emotion!" They continued chuckling together. As their laughter died down, she gazed at him with a fondness in her eyes. The music flooded her ears, and she stood softly, holding onto the hand that had been resting on top of hers.

She looked down to him. "Will you dance with me?" She asked, pulling him up from his seat. And he happily obliged. They had started by just holding hands and twirling to the music, most of which she was sure Fred had never heard before. They danced a bit more vigorously to the upbeat songs, spinning around in circles and laughing until she felt dizzy. He had as little coordination and rhythm as she did, so they must have looked hilarious to everyone else in the bar, but neither of them cared. Soon he had caught her and wrapped his strong arms around her waist, allowing her to rest her head on his chest and regain her breath as they swayed slowly to the music. She could hear his heart thumping as his chest rose and fell with his breaths.

She looked up at him and almost instantly he was bending down to meet her lips. It was soft and brief. Probably because they were surrounded by so many people. But it made her hyper aware of how much she wanted him. She wished that they were alone.

"Walker, you are incredible." He whispered to her, his head lowered to be level with her ear. "How did I not notice you in school?"

She laughed at this. "I was a little Hufflepuff, with mostly Hufflepuff friends, two years below you, and I couldn't get on the quidditch team no matter how hard I tried!" She giggled. "And you had half the girls in the school after you, doubt you would have noticed me even if I threw myself at you!"

"Couldn't get on the Hufflepuff team? Are you even safe to fly a broom?" He mocked her. "I would love to see it some time." He rested his forehead against hers. She tried to wriggle free of his embrace, pushing away from his chest in mock anger. But he just close the gap between them. His breath was hot and tasted of whiskey, and he kissed her for longer now. With more passion. His hands strayed down from her waist and rested on her bum. She pulled herself closer to him using the collar of his shirt, so their bodies were flush against each other. All the music, and chatter seemed to disappear as she melted into him. It was like there was an invisible line between them, and crossing it felt like a drug. They came apart, but stayed close for a few more moments.

"We should probably go. This place is closing soon." She broke the silence, even though she could have stayed like that forever. And they made their way outside, still hand in hand.

"I actually live just up this way, if you fancied a night time stroll with me." She said, shyly. She would feel confident around him, until they kissed, and she would turn bashful and jittery, overthinking everything she says.

"Again, my mum would string me up if she knew I didn't make sure a date got home safely." Fred replied. "Six sons and she made sure that every one of us grew up a gentleman." He gave her a wink.

"I'll have to thank her some time in the future." She smiled, strolling next to him down the deserted street. "Can I tell you something?"

He looked worried. "Depends on the something." He covered his expression with a quick smirk.

"I used to fancy you at school. Quite a lot actually." She blushed. "And then you left, and I just forgot about it." She looked down at her shoes. He span around to look at her, walking backwards down the pavement.

"You used to fancy me?" He motioned between them. "Ginny told me that, but I figured she was kidding. I was a bit of an idiot in school."

"Ginny! I told her not to meddle." Deborah rolled her eyes.

"If she didn't meddle, this wouldn't be happening. I would have never worked up the courage to ask you on a date." He confessed.

She teased him, "Oh poor Gryffindor boy, couldn't find his courage to ask out a girl." He quirked his eyebrow at her.

Before she could register what was happening. He had bent down to pick her up and flung her over his shoulder, starting to run down the street. She screamed, as he ran, holding on to the sides of his shirt, scared she would fall from his grip. He laughed at her panic. She couldn't help but notice how muscular he was to carry her like this, and he hand gripping tightly to the back of her thigh.

"Who is a poor little Gryffindor now?" Fred said, laughing, as he spun them around in circle in the middle of the street. He came to a halt, and put her back down on her feet. She was dizzy, so he put his hands on her shoulders to steady her , then on her neck, then the sides of her face, thumbs stroking her cheeks. And he kissed her again. In the middle of the road, they were drenched in moonlight and surrounded by the cool breeze. She shivered, and he broke the kiss.

"Let's get you home, it's cold. How far from here?" He was still holding her face in his hands.

She glanced sideways, and pointed up the street. "Actually, that green door there, that's the front door to our building. I'll race you." Then she bolted up the road, Fred catching up to her in no time. He picked her up round the waist and swung her round so he could overtake.

"Do you mind if I come up and apparate from yours? Would hate to try and find a suitable dark alley to apparate from at this time of night." He said, breathless from running, while leaning on the wall next to her front door. She agreed and led him upstairs, and to the front door of her flat.

She unlocked the door, and walked through with him, throwing her keys on the side table. Fred had closed the door behind him, and was reaching for her waist to pull her closer to him.

"Dee! How was it? I have ice cream on the go if you want some!" Hermione called from the living room round the corner. Deborah shot Fred an apologetic look, but he was looking quite amused.

Hermione walked round the corner, dressed in his cosy pyjamas, and jumped a little when she saw them both standing there. "Oh sorry! I'll just go to my room, get out of your hair." She blushed at them.

"No need Hermione, I just came up to apparate." Fred smirked, and then turned to Deborah, "We can do something later this week? If you want?"

Deborah was just about to answer, but Hermione chirped up. "We are wedding planning on Saturday with Molly. Please don't forget." Deborah gave her a little glare. "Sorry, I will just go back in here." Hermione turned back to the living room.

"So that's a yes, but not on Saturday." Fred said, and she nodded in agreement. "Thank you for showing me how bad some muggle drinks are. I owe you one tour of the joke shop." He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, and smirked while stepping away from her.

"Oh, and Hermione! Lovely pyjamas! You'll have to get me some so we can match!" He shouted through to the living room. Hermione marched round the corner, pillow in hand. Fred gave Deborah a cheeky wink, and vanished with a pop. Leaving the pillow Hermione had thrown at him to fall onto the floor.