A/N: Hi, me again. I was going to wait to see if people were enjoying the story but I was bored and wrote the second chapter anyway. I hope you like it and if you do let me know cause I'd love to hear from you. Abbie X.
Hermione was still fuming about Fred's accusations at two o'clock in the morning. She couldn't sleep, had already read Hogwarts a History twice and was now led on her back, over the covers with livid thoughts whirring through her brain. She just couldn't believe that Fred thought she would do that to him. Besides, she didn't even like him like that!... Did she? 'he is kind of hot' she rationalised to herself 'and I wouldn't mind it if he did like me…' but she quickly snapped her thoughts back to reality before they got out of hand and fury crashed back down on her again. First of all, he seemed to think it was impossible for him to like her without him being charmed or drugged with a potion, and that was just plain insulting. 'Am I really so bad that a crush on me can't just be real?'. Second of all, could he not have talked to her privately instead of causing a shouting match in front of half of the Gryffindors at Hogwarts- now everyone thought that she was so desperate she'd result to trickery in order to attract boys! No one had even looked at her for the rest of the evening except for Lavender Brown who just wanted to know her love potion tips and tricks (to this Hermione simply rolled her eyes and told lavender firmly that she did not, in fact, do anything to Fred and he was just being a twat). After Ditching Lavender, she had retreated up to her dorm, flumped down onto her four poster bed and flicked her wand to draw the curtains shut with a moody snap. Hermione had then proceeded to read through Hogwarts a History twice and seethe silently on her bed until the present. Eventually, she got fidgety and decided to go down to the common room for a while.
Fred led on his side facing Lee's bed and trying to entertain himself by conjuring Dumbledore-style-
white hair to sprout from different places on Lee's face like his nose and ears. But it was doing little to amuse him and he soon rolled onto his back with a frustrated huff; dropping his hands heavily on either side of him. He was furious and he didn't like it: he wasn't used to it. The worst part was that he still couldn't stop thinking of Hermione (even if some of his thoughts were now ones of near loathing). He might be able to calm down a bit if she just admitted to her crime and apologised for toying with his emotions like they were a play thing. He growled quietly. Suddenly, George sat up in bed and threw a pillow hard at Fred's head.
"Ow! What in Merlin's name was that for?" Fred shout whispered at his twin: he was in no mood for a random pillow fight.
"I just wanted you to shut up! You've been huffing and grumbling every ten seconds since your screaming match with Granger." George countered with a violent whisper of his own "Go down stairs and mutter so that I can fall asleep already." Fred sighed deeply and nodded before rising from his bed and stumbling from the dorm. He heard George mutter a sleepy goodnight as he clicked the door shut behind him.
Fred reached the bottom of the stairs and headed for the sofa in front of the dying fire. He squeezed his eyes shut as he yawned and stretched his arms over his head. His eyes still closed from drowsiness, he vaulted over the back of the sofa and landed with an oomph on the cushions. But he jumped back up immediately after he landed because the cushions he thought he had sat on let out a squeal of surprise and started batting him on the back with its book. His eyes now wide open, Fred saw none other than the infamous Hermione granger. He gritted his teeth and glared daggers at her as she rose from her seat and he headed back towards the boy's staircase.
"Fred. Fred just wait." Fred halted abruptly mid-step and turned to look at her with a thundery expression. "we need to talk." Hermione finished lamely.
"No I don't think we do. Because you are clearly a lying, cold hearted young which who only cares for the emotions of her precious book characters and seem to think anybody else's feelings don't bloody matter!" Fred hissed at her nastily, which shocked her because she had never imagined Fred could be mean. Hermione's eyes shone with tears for a moment before they began to roll down her cheeks. She took a shuddery breath and tried to keep her voice level when she responded.
"Fred… I don't know how many times I'm going to have to say this but I haven't done anything." She sniffled and wiped frantically at her cheeks to rid them of tears.
"How many times am I going to have to say that these feelings don't just appear and that I know your lying! Hell I could smell the amortentia on you right now." Hermione had never seen Fred so riled up and it almost scared her to see him so different from his usual cheery self but she knew that whatever he was feeling was definitely no fault of hers. She closed her eyes to compose herself before she tried to rationalise with the angered wizard before her.
Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin when she opened her eyes to find Fred's blue ones staring directly back at her. He was a breath away from her and she could feel the warmth coming off of his (she only just realised) shirtless body. Her breath hitched in her throat at his closeness and suddenly her thoughts from earlier returned and she couldn't stop herself from thinking about how perfectly toned his chest was; how strong his shoulders looked and his abs… those abs. She also found herself missing his incredibly sexy, devilish and happy-go-lucky personality that he recently seemed to have lost. Fred leaned in slowly and tilted his head; confusion tangled all of Hermione's thoughts but just as she started to lean in too Fred inhaled deeply through his nose and backed away again.
"What do ya know Granger! Is that vanilla and cinnamon I smell, with just a hint chocolate?" Fred's voice was laced with sarcasm and he continued "Why, you know what else smells like that to me… Bloody amortentia that's what you soulless sorceress!"
"Fred I swear to the gods that I would never do anything to mess with you like this. When would I even find the time to brew a love potion? I've been studying solidly for the past month and a half Fred. If you don't believe me ask the librarian or I could show you my study time table?" Her tone was pleading "Please, please just stop this. We both feel awful and there is no need." She took a moment to look into his eyes and search them for any clue as to if he was responding at all to her begging but he was wearing his poker face so she carried on.
"Is it really so impossible for you to have crush on me that you had to assume it was magic? Fred can you not just have natural feelings for me? And if they aren't natural, then I promise that I have nothing to do with it and I admit that if these feelings are real, I won't be too disappointed…" Hermione gave Fred a small shy smile and bit her lip before retreating upstairs to her dorm without another word.
Despite his recent dislike for Hermione, thinking about what she just said to him (about not being disappointed if he liked her) made butterflies awake in Fred's stomach and he smiled to himself as he walked back upstairs slowly, finally a little more content with his 'Hermione situation'.