A/N: You people are really spoiling me! Thanks a million to everyone who reviewed! And for those who are reading and not reviewing, if you want to do the good deed of the week, this is your chance ;o) Now read and enjoy!

First comes marriage, then love?

Something there?

Hermione had had a busy day. Apparently, her mother and Mrs. Weasley had become very good friends in just one afternoon and now she was paying the consequences. They had dragged her all along Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and what felt like half of London buying things for the wedding. She had insisted on that she didn't mind them choosing everything for the ceremony and party, but both ladies had agreed that she should take a leading role in the preparations.

Resignedly she entered the fiftieth, and hopefully last, shop of the afternoon: Madam Malkin's. There she was to pick the bride's maid dress and her own wedding gown. Mrs. Weasley had already decided she was going to wear the same dress robes she had at her other sons' wedding "because it brought them good luck". And Mrs. Granger said she already had the perfect dress for her daughter's wedding.

"Before you two start showing me every single robe this shop holds, I'll tell you that I want something simple."

The older ladies started to complain at once, but she cut them off. "This is my wedding, right? Fred and I already decided we don't want a big, fancy marriage ceremony and I much rather wear a plain white robe than one of those boastful dresses you showed me yesterday mom."

Within fifteen minutes, without the constant interruptions from her mother and future mother-in-law, she had found the perfect robe. It was elegant but sober, made of a floaty material similar to silk. The only decoration it had was a fine line of white, shinning bugles around the neck and waste line. The outfit seamed to have been made especially for her, it fitted her body flawlessly.

Hermione sighted loudly in spite of herself. She had promised to herself that she wasn't going to get to excited about anything related to the wedding, after all it wasn't a real one. But when she saw her reflection in the mirror, wearing that beautiful dress… No woman would have been able to resist the charm of the situation.

Her mother put a tiara with a veil on top of her head and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"You look absolutely gorgeous baby," she said, her voice quivering. "Fred is going to fall in love with you all over again when he sees you walking down that aisle." Mrs. Weasley merely nodded.

"Thank you," answered Hermione, she too was a bit moved by the scene and couldn't think of anything else to say.

Once she had found a dress for Ginny (she had decided on a bottle green robe that was a bit more daring than hers, just like the person who was going to wear it), they decided to call it a day. Mrs. Weasley accompanied Mrs. Granger to the Leaky Cauldron out of Diagon Alley before disapparating to The Burrow, but Hermione headed for WWW. Fred had asked her to meet him at his place before joining his friends.

When she arrived at the shop, she found it closed. Thinking that Fred might be upstairs waiting for her, she apparated directly at the living room, but he wasn't in the apartment either.

Hermione went to the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea, but then saw that Fred had left a bottle of wine open on the counter. She eyed it before pouring some of it in a goblet. She usually didn't drink, especially if she was alone. However, she felt that tonight she needed some courage to face Fred's friends and act as if she were in love with the man she was going to marry in less than two weeks.

Half and hour and three goblets later, Hermione heard Fred apparating.

"Honey, I'm home," he shouted from the living-room.

"How did you know I was here?" Hermione asked walking out of the kitchen.

"I saw your coat," he answered simply pointing at the couch where, sure enough, Hermione had left it. "You've been waiting long?"

"Around forty minutes. I saw the store closed and assumed you would we here, that's why-"

"You don't need to explain. This will soon be your house too; you can come here whenever you feel like it." Hermione smiled. She was getting used to the idea that in a fortnight she would be living in that small cozy apartment and was beginning to feel at home whenever she was in it.

"Mum told me you were going shopping today with her and your mother, how was it?" asked Fred conversationally, taking a sit in one of the armchairs.

"Not that bad actually," and she briefly recounted her day for him. "How was your day?" Fred stared at her, and then snorted. Hermione knew what was on his mind, it had sounded to her too as the typical question a wife would ask her husband during dinner.

"Not bad, you know, business's still doing fine so…"

"And where did you go after closing the shop?" she asked, hoping she would sound curious rather than as an anxious wife who thought her husband was cheating on her.

"Funny you should ask" said Fred, getting to his feet and rummaging in his pocket for something, "'cause I went to get something for you." Hermione merely gave him a quizzical look. But two seconds later, when he kneeled in front of her and took out a small black box, she understood.

"Oh Fred, you didn't!"

"Of course I did." He retorted grinning, his eyes sparkling. He opened the box and showed her a stunning ring,. It was made of white gold with a drop-shaped diamond. It was simple and elegant, just like her.

"Fred, it's… wow! It's exquisite… You shouldn't have done it, it must have cost you a fortune. I can't accept it."

"Of course you can. Listen, you need an engagement ring so people will really believe that we are in love, and besides, I wanted to give you something or all the things you are giving up."

"But Fred, you are giving up those things to. Plus, you offered me your apartment and now you've spent a fortune on this gorgeous ring, I don't think it's fair!"

"I've told you already, I'm glad you are moving in with me. And don't worry about the money, if I bought it is because I can afford it. Think of it as my wedding gift. And in that way I make sure you get me something nice," he finished, winking at her.

"I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything, just take it." He grabbed her hand and slipped the diamond ring on her finger, it fitted perfectly.

Hermione looked at it and her eyes filled with tears of emotion. She was speechless, first the gown, now this. For a couple of seconds she allowed herself to believe that she was doing this because she loved Fred and not because of a mission for the Order. Without thinking she moved down to the floor to be leveled with the red-haired man kneeling in front of her, and she kissed him. It wasn't a long kiss because the moment her lips touched his, she got back to her senses and parted quickly, blushing furiously.

"You are welcome, I guess." Fred was once again grinning, but two things were clear: Hermione's actions had taken him completely by surprise, and that he hadn't minded them much. A few moments passed in awkward silence.

"Er, we should be going or we'll be late," suggested Hermione, not meeting his eyes.

"Right, let's go then." He stood up and offered her his hand to help her. She took it, still not looking at his face.

"Where are we going?"

"To a new pub. It's near the Ministry and many of its members go there after office. I thought it was a good idea if they saw us together there."

"Good thinking," agreed Hermione, glad there was a new subject to talk about.

When they arrived at the pub, everybody was already there. Their table was easily spotted mainly thanks to George's vivid red hair. Fred grabbed Hermione's hand and led her towards his friends. When they reached the table they distinctly heard his twin saying:

"You owe me three galleons Katie."

"What for?" Asked Fred curiously taking a sit next to his brother, as there weren't any chairs left, he pushed Hermione onto his lap.

"We had a bet on who would have a greater effect over the other, and as you two are late and Hermione is famous for her punctuality…"

"Will anyone bother to tell us why Hermione Granger is sitting on Fred Weasley's lap?" prompted Lee before anyone else could speak.

"Yeah, that's something I never thought I would see," said Alicia taking a sip from her drink.

"Ok guys, do you remember me telling you that Fred had a big announcement to make?" begun George to what the rest of them nodded. "Well, he's got himself a girlfriend."

Alicia, Oliver, Lee and Angelina looked from one twin to the other, then to Hermione with disbelieving looks on their faces. "Hermione, I thought you were clever enough not to accept any beverage coming from one of these two," said Lee still awestruck.

"Hey! None of you think I'm capable of getting 'Mione to like me?" All of his friends shook their heads vigorously. "Then you probably won't believe me when I tell you that we are getting married… In two weeks time," he finished showing them the diamond ring on Hermione's hand

At this, his four friends' mouth actually opened as they stared at the beautiful gold hoop on the girl's finger.

Lee recovered first. "In which month are we?"

"October, why?" asked George, he was quite clearly enjoying himself. Hermione caught on right away.

"It's not a joke Lee," she answered. "Fred and I have been going out for six months and we are getting married."

"Are you serious?" Asked Alicia, the other two still hadn't recovered from the shock.

"Yeap," nodded Fred proudly, giving Hermione a noisy kiss on the cheek

"Wait, is this why you never wanted me to set you up with one of my friends?" asked Oliver.

Fred nodded again, but he whispered into Hermione's ear "actually it was because his friends look like trolls with skirts" Hermione giggled behind her hand.

"And how come you never told us about this?" demanded Lee.

"Nobody knew until a few days ago. We kept it secret because we didn't want to upset Ron who's always been in love with 'Mione. But so am I and the best man got the girl."

The rest of them exchanged looks of surprise and disbelief. "And why did you suddenly decided to get married?" asked Angelina.

"Wait a moment… You are not…?" began Alicia looking at Hermione.

"No! I'm not pregnant, why is that the first thing everyone thinks about?" interjected the brunette

"I wasn't going to say pregnant, I was going to say under the imperious course." Everybody laughed. "Now seriously, why?"

Fred and Hermione told them the story they had invented the night before. Although they hadn't rehearsed it, it came out wonderfully. And just as they had managed to convince Mr. and Mrs. Granger, by the time they had finished talking, none of their four friends doubted that they were in love.

"That's so sweet!" Said Angelina, and then turning to Oliver she demanded, "when are you going to do something like that?"

"Thanks mate! How on earth will I get her off the subject of marriage now?" joked Oliver, receiving a smack from Alicia.

"I told him, now all of them are going to want to be the next one to walk down the isle," agreed George.

"That's why I love being single," sighted Lee, putting his hands behind his neck in a relaxed position.

"I think this call for a toast," proposed George, waving at the waitress. A few minutes later she appeared with eight small glasses, a salt shaker, a plate full of lemon slices and a bottle of Tequila. She put a glass in front of each of them and left the rest of the things on her tray on the table.

Oliver took the bottle and filled each of the glasses. He lifted his own after putting some salt on his left hand, "Welcome to the group Hermione." And in one gulp he emptied it. One by one, Lee, Alicia, Angelina, Katie and George did the same and turned to look at Hermione, who looked at Fred.

"You never had tequila, have you 'Mione?" He asked, a smile playing on his lips and eyes. She shook her head.

"This should be fun," he winked at the others and handed her the salt shaker. "Ok, first put some salt on your hand. Good. Now before you are going to put the salt in your mouth, then you take it in one shot and afterwards grab a lemon slice, get it?"

Hermione nodded and followed Fred's instructions as he did the same. She could feel the tequila burning down her throat and winced. Everyone was looking at her closely as she put her glass back down on the table.

"How do you feel?" asked Fred.

Hermione shook her head violently before smiling, "That was good. How about another round." They all clapped and had another shot of tequila. "Fred, I'm not much of a drinker, so don't let me do anything stupid, ok?" whispered Hermione after the burning sensation of the second swig had passed.

"Don't worry baby, you are with me," he assured her winking again.

"That's exactly why I worry."

Soon enough everyone was laughing a bit more than usual under the effects of the alcohol. The girls wanted to know all the details of the wedding so they summoned another chair and sat around Hermione to ask her everything from her dress to the flowers she had chosen to decorate the chapel. Meanwhile the guys seized their opportunity to talk about Quidditch.

Then, the people sitting at the tables in the middle of the pub started to stand up and the tables and chairs vanished into thin air to form a dance floor. A D.J announced that the party was about to start "so you better get hold of your partner, 'cause this is going to be one hoooooot night. Welcoooooome to theeee Horntail Hut!" And loud music stated playing.

"Which is my record, boys?" asked Lee, standing up.

"I think four," answered Fred.

"Ok, I'll make it five tonight. And I'll go home with one of them." He drained the remainders of his fire whisky (the tequila had long ago been drunk) and left the table to talk to a pretty blonde who had been batting her eyelashes at him for the last five minutes.

"I want to see the happy couple dancing!" cheered a very giggly Angelina as she stood up and walked drunkenly to sit on Oliver's lap. Fred and Hermione exchanged looks.

"Come on 'Mione!" Katie encouraged her, "don't be shy. We know Gred izzzn't." She too was giggling feebly.

In the meantime, George, Oliver and Angelina (Alicia had been asked to dance by a tall dark haired man and had left the table) were clapping their hands and singing "dance, dance, dance."

Fred stood up and offered Hermione his hand, but she looked at it hesitantly.

"I don't know Fred; I'm feeling a bit dizzy."

"It's ok 'Mione, I got you." And without waiting for an answer he put his arm around her waist and lifted her off the chair.

She stammered a bit when he let go of her but managed to remain in a standing position. "You ok?" he asked, ready to catch her if she wasn't.

"I think so." But when she tried to walk, she lost balance and fell forward towards Fred who put both his arms around her this time, to prevent her falling. Hermione looked up into his face and started to giggle uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" he asked sounding amused.

"Your nose… it's covered with freckles… it looks cute." She said, unable to stop the giggles.

"Exactly how many drinks did you have darling?" inquired Fred trying to keep a straight face.

"I donno."

"Ok, why don't you sit back down?"

"No! I'm fine. Now I want to dance!" Hermione protested and moved towards the dance floor.

Fred knew it was pointless to argue. It was difficult enough to make Hermione change her mind when she was sober, but to do it while she was drunk was probably a mission impossible. Luckily, a slow song had just started, so Hermione throw her arms around Fred's neck and he took her placing one hand on her waist and the other one on her back.

However, Hermione seamed able to dance in spite of her state. In fact she was a very good dancer. She rested her head on his shoulder and started to sing along with the music. As a singer, she was a very good dancer, but for some reason the sound of her voice so close to his ear sent shivers of pleasure down his spine.

His mind presented him with images of him waking up with her breathing next to him, her perfume being the first thing he smelt in the morning, and her voice the first thing he heard. An involuntary smile spread on his face, he liked the picture forming on his mind… But suddenly George's face replaced the pleasant images and he could hear his voice telling him "Just bare in mind that Ron is our brother, and that he loves her"

"I know that!" said Fred out loud.

"What do you know?" asked Hermione looking puzzled, she had lifted her head from his shoulder and was gazing up at him.

"Nothing, nothing," he said hastily. She continued to look at him with her big brown eyes and all of a sudden he felt as if his legs were made of jelly. She seemed so innocent blinking up at him. He was hypnotized by the sight. Without really knowing what he was doing, he started to lower his face, his lips searching for hers. He didn't know nor cared if she understood what was going on, the only thing that mattered was that their lips where inches apart and she was not backing away. They were so close he could feel her breath on his lips… And then, alcohol seamed to have gotten to her head and a second later she was snoozing, her head on his shoulder again.

This brought Fred back to his senses. He looked around, none of his friends was paying him the slightest attention. Thinking that he would explain everything the following morning, Fred tightened his grip around Hermione, turned and disapparated from the pub.

A few seconds later he was standing next to his bed. He laid Hermione on top of it and conjured some blankets from thin air to cover her. After removing her shoes, he dimmed the lights and left the room so she could sleep more comfortably. After all, she was going to have a difficult morning and he had some thinking to do.

He made himself a strong cup of coffee that would help him to clear his mind, went back to the living room and lay down on the couch. Two very strange things had happened that night: the first one was that he had never been able to take care of anybody if he had had more than a couple of drinks, but tonight the knowledge that Hermione somewhat depended on him had kept his mind awfully clear. The second weird event of the night had been that almost-to-happen kiss.

Of course it would not have been the first time he kissed Hermione, but it would have been the first time his heart had beaten so fast when he was about to kiss Hermione. The first time he had felt differently about kissing Hermione and the first time he had wanted to kiss Hermione so badly. Those were not good signs. And yet he didn't feel any trace of guilt at them. On the contrary, he felt exhilarated and excited.

"Can this be happening?" he wondered out loud, "can George be right?" No, of course not, he had had too much to drink, that was why he was feeling odd. Yes, that had to be. "Alcohol can have some weird effects," he thought before flicking his wand to turn off the lights in the rest of the apartment and falling asleep.

Hermione walked up around noon the following day. She opened her eyes and didn't recognize her surroundings immediately. She shook her head trying to force her mind to think clearly, but this proved to be a wrong choice as her head felt like it had thousands of tiny pixies dancing inside it.

"I see you are up, sleeping beauty," said Fred cheerfully entering the room.

"Would you mind keep it low," she answered with a pain expression, covering her head with her hands.

"Ah! Miss Granger, welcome to the wonderful world of hangovers. Here, take this," he said handing her a glass full of a thick, strange-looking, orange potion.

"What is it?" she asked, eyeing the glass warily.

"Just take it, it'll make you feel better. Try to drink it in one gulp, it's more effective that way."

Hermione took a deep breath and drained the contents of the glass. It tasted horribly, but it almost instantly she could feel the pixies stopping their furious dance and leaving her head. She smiled in relief.

"Feeling better?"

"Much, thank you." She yawned and stretched widely. "What time is it?" she asked lazily resting on the pillows behind her.

"Almost twelve o'clock."

"What?" She stood up so quickly, she sent one of the pillows flying across the room. "I've been here all night and half of the day? My parent's will be worried sick. How-"

"Relax 'Mione, I owled your parents this morning and told them that you are ok, that you had spent the night at The Burrow 'cause you had to do some things early this morning."

"Thanks. And incidentally, why I'm here?" She asked looking down at herself and registering she was wearing the same cloths she had the night before.

"Don't you remember what happened last night?"

Hermione screwed up her face in concentration, trying to recall the events of the previous night. "I remember that we were at the pub, and that I had too much to drink. I have like flashes of it. The last thing I remember is you and I dancing to a slow song… Oh, please tell me I didn't do anything stupid," she finished, clearly mortified.

"That depends, do you consider dancing topless on top of a table something stupid? 'Cause most men at the pub thought it was something quite-"

"What?" cried Hermione.

"Just kidding! Don't worry; I didn't let you do anything stupid." ("In fact I was the one who almost did something very stupid, but at least she doesn't remember it," thought Fred).

"Thanks again, I don't know what I would do without you!" she said giving him a hug. "But what will your friends think of me?"

Fred calmed her saying that they probably wouldn't remember half of the night either. "Besides 'Mione, they already know you. They'll probably think that you had to bring me here because I was too wasted to apparate."

"Oh Merlin! Was I too wasted to apparate last night?" Fred nodded and Hermione hid herself under the blankets. Fred chortled and pulled down the blankets.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Believe me, I've been there before… Now, I have to go back to the shop now, you know you can stay here as long as you want. Why don't you take a bath and have something to eat. I'll see you later, ok?"

"Ok" answered the brunette in a small voice. Fred couldn't help but think that she looked very cute when she was ashamed. The thing was that, this time, he was not under the effects of any kind of drink.

A/N: Just a short notice: next chapter is the wedding. If you review you'll encourage me to update faster hint, hint