Fred had been on Hermione's mind all weekend. And as frustrating and annoying as it may be, she couldn't get rid of him again that easily - not that she had ever really been rid of him in the first place. All day Saturday and Sunday, Hermione had been dreading the upcoming weekly tradition of Sunday dinner at the Burrow where she was sure that Fred would make an appearance. After all, it was his family.
Since Friday night - when Fred had walked in the door - Hermione had contemplated owling Mrs. Weasley and tell her that she had caught the flu, but decided against it as she knew how much it would disappoint her bonus mum.
In the end, Hermione ended up apparating to the Burrow a bit later than she normally would have, her heart pounding by the mere thought of having to endure an entire evening in Fred's company.
Hermione hadn't even stepped foot inside the Burrow before she heard a loud bang followed by Mrs. Weasley's familiar yell, "not inside the house, Fred!" With a sigh, Hermione got rid of her overcoat and boots before she slipped on a pair of Mrs. Weasley's home-knitted socks and went to the kitchen where the matriarch was muttering under her breath, "you'd think that my sons of almost thirty would know how to behave, but no, no, no. Absolutely not! They're still acting like twelve year olds scaring their poor nephews and niece like that!"
Hermione cleared her throat, making Mrs. Weasley immediately whip around.
"Oh, it's just you! I thought you were one of my childish sons," she said with a sigh. Slowly, however, Mrs. Weasley shook her head and a small smile erupted on her lips not long after, "welcome dear!" she said, pulling Hermione in for a tight hug, "It's always lovely to see you."
"It's good to see you too, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione leaned in to the hug, "your roast smells delicious. Do you need a hand with anything?"
"I'm alright dear, why don't you go have fun with the others? Maybe you can make Fred and George behave. You have more control over them than I ever had," she gave out a sigh and turned her attention to the oven, "you just run along now, dear."
Hermione turned around and approached the next room with heavy footsteps. She took a deep breath before she pushed open the double doors separating the kitchen from the cozy living room. Immediately, she was met by giggling toddlers who were mesmerised by their twin uncles' colourful magic show. George was procuring differently shaped balloons while Fred was popping each and everyone of them with sparks flying out of his wand. Every third balloon made either a farting or a burping sound to much delight for the three toddlers Victoire, Teddy, and James. Harry and Angelina were watching Fred and George too, laughing along with the toddlers. Hermione noticed that Angelina was stroking her belly lovingly, looking at George as if he had put the stars in the night sky. As soon as she noticed Hermione at the door, however, she retracted her hand from her belly and instead gave Hermione an embarrassed wave. Hermione sent the girl what she hoped was a warm smile before she sat down on the carpet next to James who immediately crawled onto her lap. Together, they watched the twins' magic show for about ten minutes before Mrs. Weasley poked in her head, announcing that supper would be served in a few minutes. Fred and George looked briefly at each other before they both took a bow to the sound of the clapping audience.
As soon as the clapping had died out, Harry got up from the floor, "let's go, guys," he said and picked up James - the youngest - and urged Victoire and Teddy to follow him, "we need to wash up before supper." Teddy followed Harry with a dramatic groan while Victorie happily followed Teddy out the living room, leaving Hermione alone with Fred, George, and Angelina.
"Whew! Tough crowd!" George said while throwing himself down on the sofa next to Hermione.
"You did a good job though," Hermione smiled at him, "I swear, those kids have the best family in the world."
George sent her a broad smile before looking briefly to Angelina, who sent him a small nod.
"Actually, Hermione," George started, "Angie and I have some news.."
This is it, Hermione thought to herself, look surprised when he delivers the news, Hermione!
George looked nervous, "Well... uhm... after a lot of failed attempts it finally looks as if Angie and I will be adding to the bunch of grandchildren," he said with a proud smile.
Hermione tried to look as surprised as possible but was apparently doing a horrible job because out the corner of her eye, she could see Fred almost choking on a laugh.
"Oh, you guys!" Hermione tried, "Congratulations! What a surprise!"
George squinted his eyes, "you knew," he stated flatly.
"What - no," she tried half-heartedly.
George merely raised an eyebrow at her.
Hermione gave out a small sigh, she might as well just come clean, "Fred told me..."
"OI!" Fred protested from the other side of the room, "I told you to act surprised!"
Angelina whipped around and glared at him, "Fred, you absolute delinquent," she bellowed angrily, "did it ever occur to you that maybe George wanted to be the one to deliver the news?"
Fred looked guiltily at his sister-in-law before his eyes flickered to Hermione, silently begging her to help him. Hermione shook her head but as Angelina kept screaming and calling Fred all sorts of names, she eventually took mercy on him. With a sigh, Hermione put on a smile before she touched Angelina's arm, grabbing her attention, "oh Angie, he didn't mean to. Fred was just so ecstatic to learn about the pregnancy that he couldn't hide his happiness. Naturally, I had to ask him what was making him smile like that."
Immediately, Angelina's face changed from anger to a whole other display of emotions. Tears were suddenly welling up in her eyes as she looked at Fred and said, "Oh Fred! That's so sweet!"
George and Hermione shared a glance while George was mouthing 'hormones' behind his wife's back. Hermione had to suppress a laugh to not attract any unwanted attention from Angelina.
"Let's go freshen you up, love," George said sympathetically to his wife who was suddenly sobbing uncontrollably, smearing make-up everywhere, making her look like a panda.
"O-okay," Angelina sniffled and let her husband help her up from the floor.
Hermione stood up too, ready to follow them out the door, but Fred held her back.
"That was very noble of you, Granger," he said as soon as George and Angelina were out of earshot.
"Oh, stop that! You know perfectly well that I only did it to keep Angelina happy," Hermione turned away from him with a scoff.
"Still," she could hear a smile in his voice, "you showed true Gryffindor grit saving me like that from the anger of the hormonal dragon."
Hermione whipped around, offended on Angelina's behalf, "Don't call her that!" she said through gritted teeth, "you have no idea what she's going through right now!"
Fred was sending her an annoying smirk, "I knew I could get a reaction out of you."
Hermione was completely baffled, "You're - you're too much! I can't believe you'd sink that low! I can't believe your level of arrogance!"
He shrugged, "all is fair in love and war"
"This is neither love nor war," she spat, "It's not even a friendship. This is absolutely nothing. Just... stay away!"
"I would still like to talk to you," Fred said, eyeing her carefully.
"Well I don't want to talk to you!" Hermione said defiantly, "Leave me and whatever happened between us alone. Let... it... go!" she said through gritted teeth, anger surging through her body.
"Alright. I promise to never mention it again if that's what you want," he crossed his arms, "- one condition though."
"What?" Hermione spat.
"That you'll have a butterbeer with me and George tomorrow night. One beer and I'll never mention it again."
"On a Monday? I have work the next day. Not all of us decide our own schedule, Mr. big-shot business owner," Hermione scoffed.
"It's just one beer," Fred shrugged, "You can leave right after. Come on, Granger - it'll be like the old times!"
Hermione had no idea why she even considered agreeing to it, but she was hesitating long enough for Fred to say, "Suit yourself, Granger - but I know that you used to love our nights out. And by saying no, you'd be missing out on probably the last one - you know; with George having a baby and me going to Scandinavia and all."
Eventually, Hermione gave in, "fine. One beer."