Written for the 2020 Fremione Costume Party on AO3, courtesy of Fremione Fanatics on Facebook; go check the other amazing stories!
Tale as old as time
"Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the beast"
Hermione heard the song coming to an end, and she realized that she had a new favourite story now. She had felt disconnected from her parents ever since she had discovered that she was a witch and had gone to Hogwarts, so when she came home to spend the holidays with her parents, she was more excited to do something that reminded her of her old life.
Going to the cinema with her parents was something that they had always done, and she was excited to see the new movie Disney had released. Beauty and the Beast sounded like something interesting, and Hermione could relate so much to Belle; she felt like they were the same person. Yes, they were both considered strange because of their love of reading, but in Hermione's case, she didn't have a Prince Charming to come to help her in the end, but at least now, she had friends that didn't find her so strange.
"What did you think, sweetie? Did you like it?" Emma Granger asked her daughter, seeing that she hadn't stopped smiling ever since leaving the movie theatre.
"That is possibly one of my favourite Disney movies, Mum! Belle's dress and that waltz and the Prince!" Hermione was talking a mile a minute, and she didn't sound like she was going to stop anytime soon, which made her parents smile. They were a little worried about their little girl, so seeing her so happy warmed their hearts.
"I'm glad that you liked it, honey," Daniel replied, his smile widening when he saw his daughter so happy.
"Do you think we could watch it again before I go back to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked with puppy eyes; her parents could never say no to her when she gave them that expression. They happily agreed to watch the movie one more time before she went back to Hogwarts, and Hermione couldn't be happier.
At first, Hermione was a little afraid about the Yule Ball. She was afraid that no one was going to ask her out, and she would have to spend the entire night hiding in her dorm, but that changed real quickly before she even realized.
Even since the incident in third year with Harry and the Firebolt, the Weasley twins had taken more interest in her and had begun to spend more time with her. Usually, it was just Fred, and Hermione was starting to see the prankster in a new light, even if she was a little wary of him sometimes. She couldn't understand why he would spend time with her, but she wasn't going to send him away.
"Mi! Just the girl I was looking for!" Fred said, almost breaking the quiet of the library, but strangely enough, Madam Pince wasn't nearby to admonish the redhead.
"Fred? What do you want with me?" Hermione asked, even though she could feel a blush beginning to redden her cheeks. It was true that she was starting to have a crush on Fred, but she didn't want to acknowledge it at the moment.
"First, you need to tell me how you can always tell I'm not George," Fred said. He had that same smile on his face which never failed to make butterflies appear in her stomach. "Second, I can't be looking for my favourite girl?"
"I'm your favourite girl?" Hermione asked dumbfoundedly, trying hard not to blush too much.
"Well… yeah," Fred said, scratching his neck awkwardly and trying to not let the famous Weasley blush overpower him. He had a plan and a speech prepared; he just hoped that he didn't muck up everything. "You must have known by now that I have… ahn… feelings for you?"
"Feelings… for me?" Hermione repeated like a broken record, trying to understand what Fred was attempting to say. She didn't dare get her hopes up if he wasn't going to say what she thought.
"Are you going to repeat everything I say to you?" Fred asked with a smile tugging at his lips, realizing that he may have a shot with her after all.
"No… just tell me already, I have to finish this Transfiguration essay," Hermione said, trying to disguise the way that Fred was making her feel.
"Eager, huh?" Fred laughed a little, making Hermione send a glare at him. "Fine, don't glare at me with your gorgeous eyes. What I wanted to ask you was… do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?"
Fred had choked out the last part so fast that it took a while for Hermione to understand what he had said, and even a little more time to form a decent response. She felt herself blush even more, but she wasn't going to overthink it.
"Yes," she murmured, and Fred almost missed it even though he was standing close to her.
"Yeah! Thank Merlin!" Fred threw his fist in the air, doing a little celebratory dance that made Hermione laugh. Hearing her laugh, Fred couldn't stop himself and laughed a little. "You won't be sorry, Mi, it's going to be the best night of your life!"
"Don't make me regret this, Fred Weasley," Hermione said threateningly, even if it was ruined by the smile that she was sporting.
"You have nothing to worry; I'll be the perfect prince charming, you're going to see it," Fred said, surprising her once more, leaning down and kissing her cheek. He left the library with a swag in his step. Hermione put her hand on her cheek, trying to not look like a teenager in love, but she couldn't help it: her crush had asked her to the Yule Ball! Before she could dwell in her thoughts for too long, she needed to send an owl to her mother to order a dress, and she knew exactly which dress she wanted.
Hermione was a little sad that her mother couldn't find the dress she had wanted, but at least, her blue dress was the same colour of the Beast's jacket; it made her heart ache with how much she missed her parents. She decided not to dwell too much on the feelings and just have a great night with Fred. No one, besides George, knew that they were each other's date — something that Fred tried to apologize for, but she only dismissed him, since she knew that Fred couldn't hide anything from his twin and wasn't mad.
"Are you ready to let everyone know who invited you to the Ball?" Hermione asked her reflection in the mirror, biting her lip. She took a deep breath and decided that the only opinion that mattered that night was Fred's; nodding to herself, she checked her reflection once more before going down to the common room.
She could feel the stares on her, but she only had eyes for one: Fred was waiting for her at the entrance of the Common Room, fidgeting with his robes, something Hermione found incredibly sweet; it meant that he was as nervous as her. If it weren't for George nudging his side, she had a feeling that he wasn't going to look at her until she was beside him.
"Wow, Mi, you look incredible!" Fred said with a small smile, coming to meet her in the middle of the room, ignoring the others. "You did this all for me?"
"Well… it is more for the Ball, but you could say that I did it for you, too," Hermione said, blushing and giggling. She never giggled, but Fred made her feel so carefree that she didn't care.
"Are you ready to amaze everybody with your looks tonight?" Fred asked, offering his arm to her. She took it with a smile.
"I don't know about the looks, but I'm ready to go to the dance," Hermione said, blushing under Fred's stare.
"Oh, this is going to be a night to remember, my dear Belle," Fred whispered in her ear, which made her shoot a look in his direction. "What? What did I say wrong?"
"What did you call me?" Hermione asked, almost breathlessly.
"Oh, that…" Fred said, scratching his neck awkwardly. "I sent an owl to your mum, asking about your dress colour, and she told me about this story you liked… Beauty and the Beast?"
"You owled my mum?" Hermione couldn't believe what he had just said, but the way Fred was blushing was too much for her.
"Yeah… I wanted to wear a tie that matched your dress, and she told me all about the — what did she call it? — movie? And that she was sorry that she hadn't found the yellow dress you were obsessed with." Fred wasn't looking at her, but Hermione could feel the butterflies in her stomach going wild.
"You're so sweet, Fred, thank you." She kissed his cheek, blushing harder. She decided to have the night of her life, even if she wasn't wearing the dress of her dreams. "Shall we?"
"We shall," Fred said, leading her for a night of dancing, laughter and dancing.
The night was everything Hermione had hoped for. The Great Hall was decorated to look like a Winter Wonderland, and Fred was a gentleman the entire night, never leaving her side for more than five minutes, and even then, it was just to grab something for them to drink. Even George approached them with his date, Katie Bell, and the four of them had an amazing night.
The only sour note was when Ron tried to make her feel ashamed, telling her that Fred would never invite her if it wasn't for a prank. She tried not to let that thought deter her from having fun, but she couldn't let it go and had to ask Fred about it.
"Fred, did you ask me to the dance just for a prank?" she blurted out the moment Fred came back with their drinks, and he almost spilled it all over her.
"What are you talking about, Mi? I thought we already discussed this," Fred asked with a hurt look on his face, which made Hermione's heart clench. "What did Ron say to you? I saw you two talking, and I know he said something."
Hermione couldn't look him in the eyes, preferring to look at her shoes. She heard Fred sigh, and she felt his gentle hand on her chin, lifting her head up and looking straight into her eyes. "I told you before... I really like you, and this isn't a prank. I would never do this to you, do you believe me?"
"Yes." Hermione sighed more than said, closing her eyes and leaning closer to him. Without wasting any time, Fred dropped his head and kissed her for the first time.
It was their first kiss — and Hermione's first kiss — and she couldn't be happier than she was in that moment. She could feel fireworks behind her eyelids, and the butterflies went wild in her stomach. Their kiss was chaste, but it was everything she had hoped for, and she was glad that it was with Fred.
"Wow…" Hermione said, a little dazzled, looking up to see Fred smiling like a loon at her.
"That's what I call a magical kiss," Fred said cheekily, which made Hermione smile. "Care to do it again?"
"I would love to!" Hermione said, before grabbing his lapels and bringing him down to kiss him again.
After that night on the Yule Ball, Hermione and Fred were never apart for too long; they hit off and started dating after that kiss at the end of the Yule Ball, and Hermione couldn't be happier. She knew that she had found her Prince Charming, and she was going to do everything in her power for them to have their 'Happily Ever After' when the war was over.
Her fifth year was nothing like she had imagined it would go; with Umbridge and the DA, and Fred and George leaving Hogwarts, it was a blow to her, but she knew that they could overcome everything, and Fred wasn't going to let the distance affect their relationship. They used the Hogsmeade weekends and the secret passages to deal with the feeling of missing each other, and everything went smoothly until the incident at the Department of Mysteries.
Hermione remembered how she felt when she woke up in the bed at the Hogwarts' Infirmary, feeling like her chest would split open if she took a breath, but her heart soared with happiness when she saw that Fred was there, holding her hand and telling her that everything would be alright.
They hit another rough patch at the end of her sixth year with the attack on the castle and Dumbledore's death, and she knew what she needed to do, but she knew she needed to do it to help Harry and build a better world for everyone. So, with a heavy heart, Hermione said goodbye to Fred, realizing that Bill's wedding may be the last time she sees him.
The hunt was difficult, and she misses him daily; it's worse when she needs to use that damn locket, whispering how Fred doesn't really love her and it's only an elaborate prank, that she is going to die in these woods without seeing him one more time. After Ron left, Hermione almost lost everything, since her redhead friend was a connection that she had to Fred, and she was almost depressed all the time.
"Dance with me, 'Mione?" Harry asked one day, seeing the way that she was staring unfocused to the radio. Hermione didn't want to accept at first, but Harry convinced her, and she felt a little more like herself for a few minutes, but this only made her remember the time that she was in Fred's arms, dancing and being with him. She was sad to realize that they probably would never dance again.
Enduring Bellatrix torture at Malfoy Manor was the worst situation that they had came across during the hunt, but Hermione couldn't let go of the thought that she should have told Fred that she loved him. They never exchanged these words, feeling like it was too early to say something like that, but now she was regretting. Her love for him always came off in waves towards him, and she prays that she can tell him at least once that he is the only one that she could love.
She was almost certain of it, but she saw him at the Battle of Hogwarts: he was standing next to his brother when that damned wall came down towards him. She didn't know what she would do if he didn't survive the war, so she cast the strongest Protego that she could and was happy it had worked, even if some debris still fell on Fred. She didn't think more about it until after the Battle had finished, and Hermione could finally relax.
"George? Where's Fred?" Hermione asked with a hoarse voice when she saw his twin standing alone in the Great Hall, looking like a lost puppy.
"'Mione? Is that you?" George asked, as if he was seeing her for the first time. When she came closer, he suddenly hugged her and didn't look like he was going to let her go any time soon. "Thank Merlin! I was looking everywhere for you!"
"Why? What happened, George?" Hermione asked, fear gripping her heart. She felt her breath come in short gasps.
"I need you to come with me to St. Mungo's, they took Freddie there, and I think he'll be really happy to see you when he wakes up," George said, slowing his breathing to help Hermione slow hers.
"Oh…" Hermione said, unsure of herself and started to walk in the direction of the doors. "Let's go, then! What are we waiting for?"
"I'm glad to have you back!" George said, with a small smile and gently tugging her closer, getting ready to Apparate.
Fred's recovery was something that took a toll on their relationship since Fred didn't want Hermione to see him the way he was now. She had asserted many times that she didn't care about the scars he had now, that it only meant he had survived the war and now they could start their lives together, but Fred was adamant.
Hermione was starting to lose patience with him, but that was when she realized Fred was acting exactly like someone else, someone from her favourite movie, and that's when Hermione realized that she had a way to help Fred come out of his self-induced depressed state, but she would need the help from the person that knew him the most: George.
"You want to do what?" George asked shocked, not understanding what Hermione was planning to do.
"George, please, just do what I'm asking… it's for Fred," Hermione said, with her best puppy eyes, something which almost every time made Fred do what she wanted, and she had an inkling that it would work on George, too.
"Fine, I'm going to help, but don't turn those eyes on me, it's frightening me," George said, shuddering for effect, which made Hermione laugh. "I'll bring him to where you need him to be, and the rest is up to you."
"Thank you, Georgie!" Hermione said, hugging George and kissing his cheek. She was already turning on her heels to walk away from him, when he called her back. "Yes?"
"Thank you for not giving up on Freddie, this means a lot to me," George said in an uncharacteristic low tone; his meaning was clear in his eyes, and Hermione smiled and nodded.
"Don't worry, Georgie, that's what we do: we never give up on each other." And with that, Hermione left him to convince his brother to go meet the love of his life.
"Okay, Georgie, I put the suit on like you asked me to, and now you want me to go through this ballroom alone? Why?" Fred asked his twin, looking at him warily, unable to understand his motives. Fred didn't want to leave their flat or let anyone see him, not after the wall had left him with scars across his face and body. He couldn't deny that he missed Hermione like crazy, but he wasn't ready for her to see him like that.
"Just do what I told you to, you nutter!" George said, pushing Fred through the doors, not letting his twin walk out of this. "I just hope 'Mione can help him see reason."
Fred almost stumbled through the doors, catching himself before he could hit the ground. Fred still didn't understand why his twin made him wear a Muggle suit with a jacket the colour of royal blue, with a tailcoat that reminded him of a picture Hermione had shown him a long time ago… He wished that she could see him in the suit, but at the same time, he didn't want her to see him like that. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the soft sound of heels in the ballroom or the sweet melody of the song, but he heard the first few words…
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
He turned and saw Hermione, standing in the middle of the ballroom, smiling at him. She looked spectacular in that yellow dress he had always heard her telling him about. What threw him more off-balance, was the way she was smiling so sweetly at him.
"Took you long enough to get in here. Did George have to threaten you a lot?" Hermione asked, coming towards Fred and taking his hands in hers. He was so shocked to see her after such a long time that he forgot to hide his scars. "Dance with me, Fred?"
Fred couldn't say anything; he just took her by her waist, bringing her closer and started waltzing with her to one of her favourite songs. He couldn't help but inhale in her scent, having missed her for so long.
"I know that you didn't want me to see you because of your scars, but you know that this isn't going to make me love you any less, right? I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Fredrick Weasley," Hermione said, gazing into his eyes. Fred realized her eyes were shining with tears; he never wanted to see Hermione cry, and he wasn't going to let her cry over him now.
"I'm sorry, Mi, I didn't want to push you away. I was just thinking too much and I didn't realize you're with me not because of my looks, but because we love each other," Fred said, kissing her forehead. "I wanted to wait a little before I did this because I came here unprepared, but... Hermione Jean Granger… will you marry me?"
Hermione couldn't stop the few tears from rolling down her cheeks, but Fred wasn't distracted by them. Judging by the big smile Hermione had on her face and the searing kiss which accompanied her smile, he could tell they were engaged now.
Fred and Hermione knew that they still had some things they needed to work through, but the love that they always felt for each other was present in every waking moment. They both had scars, mental and physical, but they were ready to overcome them together. After all, scars only meant you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the beast