The next morning, Hermione was woken up by a shriek coming from the door to Ginny's old bedroom before said door was slammed shut. Confused, Hermione looked around the room and realised that Fred was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh no," Hermione muttered as she quickly got dressed and hurried downstairs only to be met by the sight of Mrs. Weasley holding Fred in a tight embrace.
"I knew it!" The matron shrieked happily when she noticed Hermione, "I knew you fancied each other. Always have known," she turned to Fred, "I used to tell your dad all the time!"
"Molly," Mr. Weasley said sternly but his wife didn't hear him.
"Oh dears, this is so wonderful! Hermione can finally be a real part of the family - not that you were anything less of course," she rambled.
"Molly!" Mr. Weasley repeated, this time a bit more forcefully.
"What, Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley said to her husband.
Mr. Weasley looked to Hermione, urging her to go explain.
"Uhm, Mrs. Weasley..." Hermione picked up, "There's nothing going on between Fred and me. He just spent the night in my room because he was too drunk to find his way home last night."
Mrs. Weasley looked confused as she took turns looking between Fred and Hermione
"It's true, mum," Fred said and gave his mum a small smile, "I'm damaged goods. She doesn't want me," he winked at her with a small laugh.
Mrs. Weasley looked at Hermione, half-expecting them to take the mickey out of her. Hermione said nothing but merely sent her an apologetic smile.
After a couple of seconds of awkwardness, however, Mrs. Weasley finally seemed to understand that Fred and Hermione were telling the truth. Embarrassed, the woman turned to the eggs on the stove, "I'm sorry," she said without looking at neither Fred nor Hermione.
"That's okay mum. No need to embarrassed. Hermione and I would make a dashing couple, but unfortunately, we're just friends," he said and sent Hermione a crooked smile.
"I'm going to get dressed," Hermione mumbled. Anything to get out of the embarrassing situation.
"Yeah, I'm going to have a shower," Fred followed Hermione up the stairs.
As they ascended the stairs, Mr. Weasley's loud whisper could easily be heard from the kitchen-table, "Molly, love, you have to let them figure it out on their own..."
"Oh! Stop that!" Mrs. Weasley said disgruntled, "I saw Fred exit Hermione's room. Of course I put two and two together. Mark my words, Arthur, they will announce that they're a couple before -"
The rest of Mrs. Weasley's words were drowned by Fred's obvious fake-coughing. "Eventful morning, huh?" he sighed when they had reached the top of the stairs.
"I'd say," Hermione agreed, "what exactly happened?"
"Just went downstairs for some more water when mum noticed me. I'm guessing her shriek of delightment woke you up."
"It did."
"Well, it's not as if I can blame her - we would make quite a handsome couple Granger," he elbowed her.
"Well it wouldn't be the first time she has tried to set me up with one of her sons," Hermione said, eyeing his reaction carefully, "remember when she tried to ship me off to Percy?"
Fred laughed a hearty laugh, "you would've murdered him within a week," he said before he shot her a wink and turned to the bathroom.
Hermione hurried to her room and immediately started changing out of her pyjamas, desperately trying to forget the scene that had just unfolded before her. It was without a doubt one of the most embarrassing moments she had ever been part of. She dressed slowly, dreading going downstairs again.
Twenty minutes later, as she descended the stairs again she was happy to find that Mrs. Weasley acted as if nothing had happened at all. Instead of asking more questions, the matron filled Hermione in on her plans for the day. Fred soon joined them, and together they assembled the big marquee where the party was to be held, they sat the many tables, and they procured fairy lights that made the marquee look very romantic. Harry, Ginny, James, and Ron came around noon to help out too. To avoid Mrs. Weasley getting even more suspicious than what she had been earlier that morning, Hermione made sure to keep a distance to Fred and instead moved a little bit closer to the others than what she normally would've done. Meanwhile, Fred was even more attentive of Hermione than usual. During that day, Hermione often caught him smiling at her only to look away when he had been compromised. Furthermore, Fred's fingers had a habit of brushing slightly against hers whenever the two of them were walking side by side. And when he was passing her in the narrow hallways of the Burrow, he let his hand rest on the small of her back for just a moment longer than necessary. Hermione didn't mind though. It was sweet and innocent. They ate supper side-by-side, their knees bumping into each other on several occasions. His hands warm against her skin as he handed her several after-dinner plum brandies. His many smiles sending shockwaves down her spine.
The day went by in a blur and before Hermione had really had the time to comprehend what was going on with Fred, she was waving goodnight to the rest of the Burrow's inhabitants, ready for a good night's sleep before the big anniversary party the next day.
She changed into her pyjamas and crept under the covers already half asleep when she heard a small knock on the door. She knew who it was before he had even poked his head inside. "Come on in," she said loudly from the bed before a freckled face emerged at the door.
"Already in bed? You really don't waste any time!" Fred chuckled when he saw her. He closed the door behind him as quietly as he possibly could. "Can't have mum seeing me in here again," he chuckled with a shrug, "scoot over."
Hermione shot him an apprehensive look, "I think I better get some sleep if I'm expected to be festive tomorrow."
Fred merely chuckled, "Don't worry, love. I just came to say goodnight. I won't ruin two of your nights in a row," he winked at her.
Hermione hesitated but still made room for him on the bed next to her.
"Merlin, I've been so hungover today!" Fred groaned as soon as he sat down, "I can't wait to get some sleep."
"You've been hungover? You've done a pretty decent job of hiding it."
"Thanks love," Fred said in a proud tone.
"Oh, don't look so proud of yourself," Hermione laughed at him, "it was expected of you. I'm just surprised because I remember how you used to behave after a night out."
"Love, come on! I think we've already established that Fred Weasley can stand his liquor but damn it if he can't conceal his hangover too!"
"You've never been able to hold your liquor!" Hermione corrected him with a laugh.
"Hey - I did a pretty good job last night if I have to say it myself."
"As if! You probably don't even remember half of what happened."
Fred shot her an unimpressed look, "I remember every detail of our conversation."
"Oh come on - in your state? You so do not!"
"I told you that I think you look cute even in your pyjamas and without make up - is that good enough proof for you?"
"Oh..." Hermione said, her eyebrows furrowing, "so you remember the thing you said about George too?"
Fred laughed a little, "yeah - wanker thinks I'm in love with you," he shook his head, grinning from ear to ear but Hermione could tell that he wanted to see her reaction as he was watching her intently. Hermione joined in on the laughing as if the mere thought of being with Fred was amusing to her. Although his behaviour all day had sent surges of hormones through her body, she did not want to ruin their newly established friendship by telling him that she might harbour a small, insignificant crush on him. It was bound to go away if she ignored it long enough.
"Well, I can see where he would get that idea from," Hermione mocked him, "after all, you did say that you had been miserable all those years without me."
"Yeah, well I have," Fred sighed, "But hey; I did manage to channel all my misery and turn it into quite creative inventions."
"You should give me ten percent of your income, then," Hermione laughed and Fred joined in. "Jokes aside; I really liked the furnix you showed me the other day."
"Yeah, she's quite great," Fred smiled to himself, "I'm trying to train her to deliver letters like an owl. Imagine how cool it'd be if I had a bloody phoenix handling my mail. It would definitely turn even the most mundane note into something extraordinary!"
"I thought we had agreed to call it a furnix?" Hermione chuckled.
"Yeah, furnix of course - which reminds me; you would not believe the amount of hell George has given me for having shown you my phoenix..."
Hermione laughed as she recalled the conversation that she had accidentally overheard between the twins. Feeling brave from all the plum brandy and in the mood for a joke, she turned to Fred, "well, it isn't exactly as if I haven't seen your phoenix before," she chuckled, glad that they were able to joke about it now that it had been talked through.
Fred shot her a look of surprise mixed with amusement, "look at you go!" he laughed.
Hermione laughed too, "Sorry, it's the brandy talking. I'm getting out of hand."
"Yeah, I better leave you to it. I need to get some sleep anyway," Fred said and got to his feet, "wouldn't want your indecent thoughts to corrupt me," he winked at Hermione who got up too, ready to hug him goodnight.
"Night Freddy," she whispered against his ear.
Fred gave her a short squeeze before he kissed Hermione on the cheek, "night love."
His face lingered dangerously close to Hermione's for a few seconds. Almost instantly, Hermione felt her breathing slow down and become heavy in her chest as she was looking Fred in the eye. She couldn't tell why he wasn't moving a single muscle, but as his eyes slowly ran over her face and eventually landed on her lips, he stuck out his tongue and licked his lips slowly, making Hermione a hundred percent sure that he was thinking about the same thing that she was. Thus, she decided to do something that she had dreamt of doing for the last couple of days; she closed the distance between them and kissed his lips softly. Without any intentions of deepening the kiss, Hermione immediately pulled her face away from his, patiently awaiting his response.
Fred gulped as if assessing the situation before taking a step closer to her. He put his long fingers on her chin, craning her neck upwards before he leaned in and kissed her back. This time, however, the kiss wasn't fast and nervous as hers had been, but rather deep and soft. They kissed sweetly for a couple of seconds before Fred wrapped his strong arms around Hermione and pulled her even closer. Fred introduced his tongue and Hermione presented her own as well. His lips started moving faster against hers, his hands suddenly everywhere; in her hair, on her back, on her bum. She had her hands tangled up in his flaming red hair, pulling on it slightly, making him hum against her lips. Slowly, she slid her hands from his scalp to the back of his neck, caressing him sweetly.
They stood in the middle of the room kissing, panting, and touching each other frantically. Their kisses gradually turned more and more hungry, their teeth constantly colliding. Fred chuckled against Hermione's smiling mouth before they resumed their heavy snogging without a single word.
Hermione led Fred backwards until he landed on the bed. He pulled off his jumper before he pulled Hermione down next to him on the mattress. Eagerly, she sat down on top of him, kissing him even more passionately than before, her hands fingering with the hem of his white t-shirt. Fred immediately put his hands on her thighs and began massaging her through her wollen tights. Fred's lips moved sweetly against Hermione's and she made sure to hum against him to let him know exactly how good it felt to finally kiss him like this again. Fred smiled against her mouth, his hands caressing her waistline and backside. Hermione could easily feel his erection against her thighs, and he shifted uncomfortably every so often but he didn't touch her anywhere that wasn't considered 'safe'.
Hermione broke the kiss and pulled her face away from him, "you can touch me properly, you know," she smiled.
Fred's cheeks were flushed, his hair was messy, and Hermione could feel his pulse racing with a million beats per minute. His eyes searched her face for a couple of seconds before he let out a sigh. He ran a hand though his messy hair and wiped the corners of his mouth with his thumb and index finger before he cleared his throat, "I better get going."
Confused, Hermione climbed down from on top of him, "are you being serious right now?"
"Sorry..." Fred got up and used his discarded jumper to hide his obvious erection as if Hermione hadn't noticed it prodding against her leg. She lifted her eyebrows at him, silently telling him that there was no point in hiding behind his jumper.
Fred cleared his throat once more, "it's not that I don't want to. It's just that I don't think we should."
Hermione nodded slowly. She was confused but it definitely explained why he hadn't touched her properly even though she had tried wiggling around to show him that she wanted him to.
"Night Granger," Fred said almost mechanically as he walked out the door.