Chapter 7 - The Set-Up

Once Ginny sorted her portion of food and departed, Angie asked, "Ready to go? We can floo through to the flat and leave the food in the kitchen while we go down to the shop and see if they need help closing up."

Hermione nodded, wondering if it might be best if she just stayed home tonight, but, remembering her promise to Fred, she decided to go. What would it hurt to have dinner with her friends? Fred didn't have a clue about the inner turmoil that she was dealing with, and it was no reason to stay at home. In fact, it would be good to go and hopefully take her mind off of things.

Stepping through the floo and into Fred's flat above WWW, Hermione followed Angie into the kitchen where they left the food on the counter. Then, they went downstairs into the shop where they saw Fred locking the door behind the last customer as George counted the money in the till.

George noticed them first and a smile lit his face. "Hello, lovely ladies, to what do we owe this pleasure?"

Angie moved in for a kiss. "We've been out shopping all day. We were famished, and I was desperately craving the Italian food that Hermione had for us last film night. I convinced her to take me to the restaurant to pick up takeaway and we thought that the two of you might be hungry as well."

"Oh, bless you; seriously, I'm exhausted. I want a shower, some food, and my bed."

By the time he finished speaking, Fred had made it over to where they stood. "Did someone say food?"

Hermione smiled at him. "Yes, it's upstairs in your flat. What's left to do down here? Just clearing up?"

Fred nodded. "Yep, we have staff coming in early to replenish the stock. We just need to check for anything that's out of place."

"Well, why don't the two of you head upstairs and have your showers? I'm assuming that George either has clothing in the flat or can borrow something of yours, yes?"

"He does, but since there's only the one shower, we can't both use it at the same time." Turning to George he suggested, "You go on up. Have a shower. Hermione can help me down here and we'll be up in a few. But take Angie with you, she looks dead on her feet."

Angie began to protest, "I'm fine, really. I sat at the restaurant while we waited for our food and then at Hermione's before we came here."

Upon closer examination, Hermione noticed just how exhausted Angie really looked. "No, go on up. You can start opening up the food and getting the plates and drinks out so we can eat as soon as Fred is out of the shower."

Acquiescing, Angie followed George up the stairs. Turning to Fred, Hermione asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"We had the staff check the shelves for anything out of place before they left an hour ago, so it shouldn't be too awful. Really, we just need to walk up and down the aisles and see if anything has been put in the wrong spot or dropped on the floor." He pointed, "You start here, and I'll start over there. We can meet in the middle."

She turned to head toward the area that he indicated when he called out to her, "Oh, and Hermione?"

Pausing to see what he needed, she gasped when Fred's arms came around her middle from behind. Leaning in close, he whispered in her ear, "Thank you for bringing dinner, and helping, and just for stopping by. I'm happy that you're here." Then, as she started to turn her head to tell him that she was happy to be there and that it wasn't a problem to help, his warm, soft lips brushed against the corner of her mouth. Before she could react, he released her and was gone.

Had he intended to kiss her lips, or had he been aiming for her cheek and missed when she moved? She floated through the aisles on autopilot. The mindless task doing nothing to distract her from the way even a potentially accidental kiss had made her feel.

Even if she could convince herself that Fred had intended to kiss her on the cheek in a purely platonic way, there had been nothing platonic about that hug. The way he'd pressed himself against her back, enveloping her fully in his embrace… she shivered just thinking about it. Flustered now, Hermione forced herself to focus on finishing up quickly so she could go upstairs, eat, and get home to think about everything.

Rounding a corner, she groaned. Someone, she hoped it was a child who had escaped the notice of whatever adult had accompanied them to the shop, otherwise, it was just a complete arsehole, had dumped all of the merchandise from one shelf onto the floor. A couple of the boxes were even opened and the products had spilled out. Getting to work, she started by placing all of the undamaged boxes back in their proper place. She would need to get Fred to assess the damage to the inventory.

Before she'd even picked up half of the undamaged boxes, Fred was by her side. "What happened here?"

"Someone, I'm choosing to believe it was a child, dumped all of this onto the floor. I started with the undamaged products first, and planned to ask what you wanted to do with what's spilled."

Fred sighed deeply, scrubbing his hands over his face. "This is why the holiday rush is a double-edged sword. We make record sales, which is great, but we aren't able to monitor customers as closely and things like this happen. We have anti-shoplifting charms up, but we haven't found a way to prevent damage yet." He paused, glancing over at Hermione with a resigned look on his face. "Why don't you go on up and eat? I'll take care of the mess. You shouldn't have to deal with this."

Rolling her eyes at him, Hermione shook her head. "You are barking mad if you think I'm leaving you to do this by yourself. You're clearly knackered and if we work together it won't take as long. I'll finish what I've already started while you check to see if any of the rest is salvageable. It looks like some of the Snack Boxes had individually wrapped sweets; those look like they're fine, you'll just need to repackage them." She placed a hand on Fred's arm. "I know that you're likely overwhelmed and looking forward to getting upstairs and having a shower. If you get me a container for the things that can be saved and a bin where I can dump the rest, I can take care of it for you. I don't mind at all."

Gratitude, and something else that Hermione couldn't put her finger on, shone in Fred's eyes as he smiled at her. "Thank you, I really appreciate your help." Then, without another word, he summoned a box, and a bin, and got to work.

Hermione had been right. Once they were working together, it took less than ten minutes to finish up. Chatting amicably, they climbed the stairs that led to Fred's flat only to go silent when he opened the door.

Instead of the chatter of Angie and George that they should have heard, the sound of sultry jazz music filled the dimly lit room. Upon further investigation, they found that the flat was empty. The table in the small dining area was set for only two and covered with a white tablecloth. Someone had set out fancy crystal stemware, a bottle of wine, and placed a pair of lit taper candles in the middle of the table. In short, the ambiance screamed romance.

Hermione, flabbergasted by the over-the-top obviousness of the situation, murmured, "They've set us up." Which, when she thought about it, she should have expected. She wondered if this had been the plan all along, and that was why Ginny had decided to leave so abruptly. Oh, she would definitely be confronting the meddling witches about this!

Fred interrupted her thoughts with a burst of laughter. "What's so funny?" she asked, slightly worried that he found the idea of a romantic dinner with her to be ridiculously amusing.

He shook his head, still laughing a bit. "Do they think we were born yesterday?"

What did he mean by that? Was he alluding to the fact that he knew that everyone had noticed them cuddled together on film night, or that they'd been spending so much time together? Or was he implying that he was her secret admirer and knew that George and Angie were aware of that fact and trying to help things along by setting this up? It was all so confusing!

Turning to Fred, she smiled. She needed a few minutes alone to calm her nerves. "Now that Angie and George have left, if you're exhausted and want to be alone, I can go home too."

"No, please stay. I would love the company. Do you mind if I go have a shower though? I won't be long."

"Of course not, take your time. I'll just set up the food. It looks like they took some and left the rest for us." He nodded, turning to walk away when she had a thought. "Fred, if you prefer, I can turn off the music and blow out the candles."

Looking over his shoulder, he winked at her causing a flutter low in her belly. "No, leave it. I think it's nice, don't you?"

Before she could answer, he disappeared down the hallway. She heard a door close, and the shower turn on. Much like the day that they'd gone shopping for Arthur's gift, Hermione decided that the best course of action would be to stop analysing the situation and trying to speculate about Fred's thoughts. Instead, she would live in the moment and see what happened.

By the time Fred returned, she'd dished up portions of everything for both of them and poured the wine. As they took their seats at the table, Fred reached over, grabbing her hand and squeezing it lightly. "I'm glad you stayed."

Hermione was glad she stayed too, even if she was out of her mind with the nerves of being thrust into such a romantic scenario by surprise. Admonishing herself for being so uneasy around someone who was typically a source of comfort to her, she smiled at him. "I am too. Now, I know you're starved, so we should eat."

He nodded, then did something that both shocked and thrilled her. Before he released her hand, he brought it to his lips, placing a kiss just above her knuckles. She tried, and failed, to resist reacting to the chill that ran down her spine because Fred was watching her intently. His lips curving into the barest hint of a smile as he turned his attention to the food.

As they ate, Fred lightened the mood with a few funny anecdotes. Dramatically rolling his eyes, he began to recount one story from earlier. "This lady came into the shop today with three young boys that looked like they were triplets. Their mum was obviously ready to pull her hair out. Well, the boys, who were around Victoire's age, were positively enthralled with the Pygmy Puffs. That gave her what she thought was a brilliant idea. She approached George and actually asked him if she could leave them for a few hours while she finished her shopping!"

Regretting the sip of wine that she'd just taken, Hermione struggled to breathe through her laughter. Fred conjured her a glass of water and waited until she'd calmed down before he added, "That's not even the best part. After George told her that we weren't a childminding service, he caught her trying to sneak away without the children."

After dinner, they took their wine and tiramisu to the sofa. Hermione laughed, "I'm sorry that the meal is the same as the one we had at my house. Angie was adamant that she had to have everything we had that evening. The rest of the menu looks amazing too. I would love to sample some of the other dishes eventually. I'm willing to bet that everything made in Nonna's kitchen is delicious."

Much like the night they'd shared this meal at her house and the restaurant had been mentioned, Fred choked on his food. Hermione wondered about this, but lost her train of thought when he suggested a moment later, "Maybe we can go together for a nice dinner after Christmas is over."

"I would love that."

Hermione noticed Fred's pleased smile as he turned his focus back to his pudding. It was always confusing, and yet interesting when he had a seemingly shy moment. She couldn't help but notice that those instances were becoming more frequent as they spent more time alone together, and that was definitely something to consider.

When they were both done, they sat sipping their wine companionably. Fred glanced in her direction, then seemed to hesitate before setting his glass on the coffee table and taking her hand. "Would you possibly consider reading to me? I… I'm tired, but my brain is still wide awake. It always relaxed me when you would read to me while I recovered after the war. If you need to get home, I understand, but..."

She cut him off, beaming in his direction. "Of course I'll read to you. What did you have in mind?"

"Really, you don't mind?"

"Absolutely not. Don't you know who you're talking to?"

He grinned at her. "Now that is the truth; whatever you fancy is fine. To be honest, I could listen to you reading a potions text and be happy." He poked her side gently, teasingly, his eyes full of mischief. "I do have a shelf full of books in my bedroom, but I reckon that you have a tome or ten stashed in that magic bag of yours."

Hermione tried to repress a giggle at his very accurate assumption. Instead, it came out as a strangled snort that made Fred roar with laughter. Once they'd calmed down a bit, she decided, "I would prefer to see what you have; maybe I'll find something that I haven't read."

Knowing that Fred was knackered, Hermione made a suggestion, hoping that she wasn't going to make him feel uneasy. She wouldn't typically worry that Fred would be uncomfortable in the least, but his recent uncharacteristic behavior gave her pause. "Why don't you change into your pyjamas and get into bed? I can sit next to you and read, that way if you happen to fall asleep I won't have to wake you. It's not like I would be able to carry you, or even levitate you, all the way to your bedroom."

Ten minutes later, Fred was ready for bed and Hermione was perusing his bookcase. As he settled himself under the blankets, her eyes fell upon a title that she'd been meaning to read. "Have you already read Hour Game?"

He smirked at her, clearly hearing the note of disbelief in her voice. "I have. Haven't you?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, you're welcome to take it home and finish it. You loaned me his other book about that pair of private investigators. Since I really liked that one, I checked to see if he had any other books when I went into muggle London back in November. I knew I would need something to help me relax after busy nights in the shop, so I bought it. I just finished it last week."

Hermione nodded, approaching the bed where Fred had left a spot next to him that was clearly meant for her. Feeling nervous again, she removed her shoes and sat down, staying on top of the covers.

He shot her a reproachful look and lifted up the edge of the blanket. She slid in, but still left a gap between them until Fred murmured, "Come here."

Fuck it, she thought, she may as well get comfortable and enjoy herself. Snuggling into Fred's side, she opened the book and began to read.

Before she'd even finished the first chapter, she heard a soft snore. Silently, she tried to extract herself from his embrace. When she did, he grumbled, pulling her closer to his body and wrapping both arms around her waist.

"Fred," she whispered, attempting to wiggle free once again. He shifted slightly, but it was only to bury his face in her hair. "Fred, I need to go home so you can get some sleep."

He inhaled deeply. "No… stay… you feel so good."

Gods, did she ever want to stay. It was so tempting, but they hadn't discussed it and she didn't want to overstep the boundaries of whatever it was that was happening between them.

"Want to kiss you properly."

Hermione's breath hitched, and she felt a swooping sensation low in her belly as she imagined what it would feel like to kiss Fred. She wanted that very much.

Still warring with herself over what to do, she decided to wait just a little longer. Maybe read another chapter or two. Fred would likely let her go, or at least loosen his grip, when he was more soundly asleep. And it really was lovely to be wrapped up in his arms, so warm and cosy.

As she did most nights, and without realising that it was happening, Hermione drifted off to sleep in the middle of a chapter.