Thank you for sticking with me if you are reading this. I know its been a "while", but I hope you enjoy this mini chapter. It is more a fluff one, but hey I think I characters deserve it. Thank you again for taking the time to read.
Disclaimer- I do not own any rights to these characters.
A sudden clap of thunder woke Hermione up from her zombie like walk. Some how she had managed to follow along with the others and now they were standing outside the burrow. As she stopped to look around, her eyes stared up to the dark sky. Mesmerized at the way the lightening was stretching its arms out.
"Hermione?" His familiar voice called out to her. "Do you wanna stay out here for a moment?"
As homey as running into the burrow sounded, it seemed like a lifetime since she had seen lightening or heard the rumble of thunder. In that moment, more than anything, all she wanted was to be able to feel rain on her skin again.
"Do you mind?" Hermione asked, turning to catch his gaze.
"Not at all." Fred smiled, taking a step towards her.
"Fred, there's no sense in you getting all wet just cause I'm obsessed." She smiled back at him.
"Oh come on Granger. Can't let you have all the fun." He stopped a foot away from her and reached out his hands. Wiggling his fingers out for hers.
Instantly she took them. Their fingers intertwining together. Please don't let go, Hermione found herself thinking.
"So, shall we walk or sit?" Fred asked.
"I think sitting would be a nice change." Hermione yawned.
"Follow me then." Fred led them to the side garden. An old wooden bench sat a little ways from the house, turned out towards open fields. A great place to look out onto the night.
"I don't think it will break." He laughed as Hermione eyed it. Fred twisted his wand at the bench, "That should help."
The two sat close. Knee touching knee, skin on skin. Fred released Hermione's hand, offering her to come in under his arm. Without hesitation she was there. No words were spoken, they just looked to the sky. Quietly watching the lightening dance around, awaiting the rain.
Fred tried to focus on the sky, but she was so close. He had dreamed of having her wrapped in his arms. Her holding onto him. But dreaming is all he thought he would ever have. Yet here she was, laying her head on his shoulder. Trusting him, wanting to protect him. Had she always felt this way about him? Were there signs he missed before when they were at school together? He felt like kicking himself for wasting so much time. Maybe if he would have known, maybe he wouldn't have been so careless during the war. Maybe this year would never have happened to her.
"Fred?" Hermione's quiet voice stirred him from his thoughts. "Fred are you ok?"
She brought her hand to his cheek. Fred felt her warmth wipe away a tear. He hadn't even realized he had begun to cry. Closing his eyes, he soaked up the moment with her. He had to tell her.
"Hermione." He started.
Suddenly the sky opened up and the rain came down.
Without even thinking Hermione jumped up laughing.
"Oh my." Hermione's face lite up. Her laughter rang out in the night. "Come on Fred!"
She reached for his hands and pulled him away from the bench. They ran a few feet out. Hermione's arms spread out like an eagles'. Her head thrown back. She needed to feel that water everywhere. Wash it away, she thought.
Fred couldn't help the grin that now plastered his face. She looked free, happy. He grabbed her hand and twirled her around. "Dancing in the rain." He laughed.
"There's nothing better." Hermione returned, allowing him to spin around and around. The rain came down harder and the wind blew a little faster, but the duo paid it no mind. In this storm was their paradise.
Fred spun Hermione out, this time their hands slipped apart. Leaving Fred alone, as Hermione turned round and round, coming to a stop about 15 feet away. This time she didn't come bouncing back, she stayed where she was.
Hermione stared out into the dark fields. The lightening was beginning to disappear, the thunder just a rumble. But the rain held on, coming down harder now. She could feel her breathing quicken. Her heart beating faster. It was time to tell him. She needed him to know now. In her heart she knew that this wasn't just her. It wasn't some crush. She wanted him.
She felt a warm hand on her back. "Hermione?" He questioned. She closed her eyes. Hold onto the light, she heard repeat in her mind. Hold onto the light.
She turned to stand face to face with him. Their bodies mere inches apart .
"Fred." She held his gaze. Her thoughts rushing through the last year. Remembering him almost dying, how he tried to rescue her, the torture of being told he was dead, and the complete state of bless she felt when she saw him alive.
"I." She paused. "I need to." She hesitated again.
Fred could feel his pulse racing. This is it idiot, no better time then the present, his inner self screamed.
"Hermione." He cupped her face, titling it slighting up to him. Their bodies melding into one another. Fred smiled as he felt her hands wrap around him. "I am so in love with you."
Instantly his lips were crashing into hers. His hands pulling the kiss deeper. Her hands pulling him in closer. Years of built up feelings rushed out between the two. Fred used one hand to cup her face, while the other moved to her hip.
Hermione moved her hands down his back, clawing to be closer to him. She brought he hands to his chest, feeling the speed of his heartbeat match hers. Slowly up his chest to come to a rest on his cheeks. She pulled him in closer for one more kiss before breaking it off.
The two stopped, their breath coming fast. They stared at each other for just a moment, before breaking off into laughter. The rain barely falling anymore. The once cloudy night, filling with stars.
Hermione lowered her hands and wrapped them in his. The foreheads resting on each other's. She held on tight, it was her turn now.
"Fred." She said, causing him to serious up. Hesitation again? You know he loves you, what in Merlin's bread? She looked to him. In his eyes there was her answer. Love. He loved her. He was her light.
"Fred, I am so so SO ridiculously in love with you." Without a thought Fred picked her up and wrapped her in his arms. The couple laughed, as Fred spun them around and around. Even though the worst was yet to come, in the now, they could be happy. They could be in love.