This is a gift fic for Cam/weasleyclock, part of the Secret Santa Christmas Fic on the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (challenges & assignments) forums.
Merry Christmas, Cam. I hope I did it justice for you.
It's Fred/Hermione 5 plus 1 trope fluffy piece.
Word Count: 1129
Just For Us
Hermione stood at the long kitchen table of Grimmauld Place, turning her gingerbread house slowly around to think how she wanted to decorate the confectionary item. George and Ginny were already throwing icing at it with much glee.
'Hermione, be a dear little niffler and pass the green icing please,' George asked, licking the white icing off his fingers.
Narrowing her eyes at him and his term of endearment, she took a step away from the table and came to a forced standstill. Frowning, she tried to lift her foot again. Immediately she looked up. 'For merlin's sake, George!'
'What- oh!' George laughed with Ginny as they looked at the offending mistletoe floating above them. 'That isn't me, I'm afraid. But I'll happily help.'
'Don't bother,' Harry said miserably. 'Fred's put his signature on the charm.'
'Of course he has,' Hermione muttered. Pulling her wand out, Hermione ended the charm without any effort.
XXX
Hermione sat at a small table in the library of Grimmauld Place with her homework spread out across the surface. Ginny came into the room with two cups of cocoa, placing one down on the parchment she was currently writing on.
'Homework is meant to be done at the last possible minute when it's Christmas,' Ginny said with a grin, sitting at the free chair.
'No. If you do it now, you can enjoy Christmas and New Year without thinking about it,' Hermione said, taking the cup with her as she got up to find a book that might help her check her Arithmancy homework.
As she took a sip of the warm chocolate drink, Hermione felt that familiar resistance when she reached the shelf. The same resistance she'd felt that very morning in the kitchen.
'Not again,' she groaned, looking up to find mistletoe on the shelf.
Ginny sniggered. 'Glad I'm blood. Doesn't work on me.'
With a heavy sigh, Hermione used her wand to end the charm once more. What was Fred playing at?
XXX
An hour later, Hermione was finally finishing up her homework, rolling up her parchments and started to put them back in her bag.
'Come on, we're going to build snowmen in the park,' Ron called into the room as he walked past.
Quickly closing up her bag, Hermione skipped after him, catching him up at the top of the stairs.
'Have you seen Fred today?' she asked.
'Not since this morning,' he said, looking back at her with a grin. 'I've heard about the mistletoe incidents. Harry's walking around looking up at the moment.'
Hermione frowned at him. 'It's not funny, Ronald.'
'Sirius thought it was,' Ron said happily when they reached the front door.
Once again, Hermione made the mistake of not looking where she was going and felt the same resistance at the front door. 'Oh come on!'
Hermione pulled her wand out and released herself from the charm again.
'Be grateful you're here when he's done it. Couldn't be using magic like that if we were at home,' he said smugly, skipping down the steps outside.
XXX
The next day, Hermione was on her bed wrapping presents, listening to Sirius sing Christmas carols loudly down the hallway. Once done she got up to ask Harry if she could borrow Hedwig to send her parents' presents.
'Fred, I'm going to kill you dead!' she called out to the hallway when she got stuck in the doorway.
Sirius' head popped out from the room he was decorating. A large smirk appeared on his face when he spotted Hermione looking up at the mistletoe. 'Will you do the honours? I've left my wand downstairs,' she pleaded.
'Fred will be most disappointed,' Sirius said, giving a lazy flick of his hand at the mistletoe.
'Fred won't live long enough to be disappointed,' Hermione snapped, stomping down the hallway.
XXX
Helping Harry decorate the tree set up in the room he shared with Ron, Hermione had now taken to staring at the doors and ceilings as she walked around. She'd also still not seen Fred for the second day running.
'I'm surprised Mrs Weasley hasn't throttled him yet,' Harry admitted, 'or that George isn't involved somehow.'
Hermione shrugged, hooking a snowman ornament onto the tree. 'It's fine. I'll work out how to get him back.'
'I don't doubt it,' Harry laughed.
Looking around, Hermione realised they'd left the star tree topper downstairs. And forgetting to look up, Hermione got stuck in another doorway. She didn't even falter as she yanked her wand out of her jeans pocket and waved it above her before continuing on her way, muttering curses under the breath.
XXX
Having managed to get the kitchen to herself, Hermione sat at the table with a book, some gingerbread men, and a cup of cocoa. Peace with the Weasleys in the same building was a rare occurrence. Especially if George and Fred were around.
Sipping her drink, Hermione realised she'd read the same two sentences four times, her thoughts constantly returning to Fred. It wasn't often she didn't see George without him, and it was definitely unusual to have gone nearly two whole days without seeing him, if you excluded school holidays she spent at home.
Closing the book, Hermione sat back in the chair, breaking a piece of the gingerbread man's leg off and chewed slowly on it. Out of habit now, she looked up and laughed when she spotted another sprig of mistletoe loitering above the coat hooks at the back door.
'Alright, Fred. Let's see what your game is,' she said quietly, walking over to get herself stuck.
It was nearly ten minutes before Fred appeared before her with a loud 'pop'.
'You actually stayed put this time,' he said happily.
'Are you trying to get us caught?' she asked. 'Any why've you been hiding?'
Fred stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and placed a light kiss on her lips. Hermione immediately pulled at his shirt collar to deepen the kiss a little more, the restraints of the charm disappearing instantly.
'I wanted one Christmas tradition that was just for us to do,' he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers, 'and I'm not sure I want to hide anymore. Do you?'
'Yeah, we've all known about you two for months now,' Ginny announced from the doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms folded, smirking.
Hermione and Fred pulled apart slightly to look at her, Hermione's cheeks blushing, but Fred laughed loudly, pulling her closer to him.
'Harry would also appreciate you not getting him caught up in the mistletoe anymore too.'
'I've had my kiss. He's safe,' Fred said, squeezing Hermione's waist tightly. 'Consider us officially outed.'
'It's a Christmas miracle,' Ginny sniggered, leaving the room when Fred started kissing Hermione again.