Chapter Five

Educating Fred Weasley

Once inside the lift, Hermione pushed away from Fred and stood on her own, being careful to stop gulping her air. Once she had reign of her breathing she smiled wanly at Fred who was watching her with worried eyes.

"You all right, Hero?" He said lightly, but he was looking at her very closely.

"Just panicked a bit," Hermione said sounded just a bit bitter.

"You were wonderful, I don't understand the sudden panic attack at the end," Fred said and Hermione shrugged.

"My head is killing me, and my heart started beating a mile a minute when all those people crowded around me," Hermione said running a hand over her forehead.

She winced as her head gave a particularly painful throb and Fred put his hand on her arm, as she swayed.

"I have a head ache potion in my bag. I sometimes get them," Fred said softly into Hermione's hair.

She murmured her thanks and they walked out of the lift when the doors opened. Fred fumbled with the metal wand key, but finally got the door open and pulled Hermione inside. He led her to the bed, which had just been made by the house elves and made her sit down there, while he looked through his things for the potion. She tried not to look at his derriere, which was once again in her line of sight, instead she look to the hotel door and bit her lip.

"Here you go," Fred said suddenly. He was standing in front of her with a glass bottle in hand. He handed it to her when she finally put her hand out for it.

Hermione swished it around, wondering at the strange color. She'd never seen a head ache potion like this before. Shrugging, she uncorked the bottle and giving Fred a quick surveying look, gulped the contents. Fred had come to sit on the bed beside her and he watched in slight amusement as she swigged.

As soon as the potion hit her insides she felt much, much better. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and putting the back on the bottle, set it on the floor.

"What was the extra ingredient?"

"What," Fred asked, caught off guard by her question.

"The potion. No head ache potion tastes good. What did you do to it," Hermione asked in an almost accusatory fashion.

"Mint leaves," Fred said scrunching his nose at her menacing look.

"Oh."

"I know you've always looked down your nose at me and George, but I'm really not as stupid as you've always made me out to be," Fred said smoothly.

"I didn't mean to come off that way, Fred. I know I may have seemed harsh and severe, but I was only worried about you getting in trouble, losing house points or hurting yourselves," Hermione babbled.

Fred started laughing and Hermione looked at him with a confused expression on her face.

"I was joking! I know how you are, rules girl, don't worry," Fred said shaking his head.

"That wasn't nice, Frederick Weasley," Hermione said sounding severe, "And I resent being called 'Rules Girl'. Do you think I have no other life than abiding rules all day long and helping people less intelligent than me? Or do you think I fill those hours with brown-nosing?"

"No, I didn't mean to offend you," Fred said suddenly sounding serious.

Hermione smirked at him.

"Good because you didn't."

Fred grinned again.

"Turned my own trick on me, you tricky little doxy," Fred said tweaking her nose.

Hermione pulled away from him and rolled across the bed in a comical display of the pants she had on underneath her robes and got off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Fred asked as she pulled her robes over her head, neatly folded them and stuck them on the bed. She then grabbed a small burgundy purse from her suitcase.

"There is a small shopping center twelve miles away. I'd really like a day away from this place. Tonight it will be back to business as usual, but right now I want out," Hermione said sounding slightly on the verge of another break-down.

"Am I invited," Fred asked and Hermione turned to him with wide, surprised eyes.

"Oh, if you want," She said after a moment and she slung her purse over her shoulder and started towards the door without looking back at him to see whether he was coming or not. He quickly shucked his robes and threw them on the bed.

"I guess this shopping trip would be a good opportunity to get something to wear to the costume party," Fred said locking the door and amiably following Hermione into the lift.

"What costume party," Hermione asked suspiciously.

"The one two days from now. Come on, you didn't notice the sign on the itinerary board downstairs? It's a big to-do, Mrs. Henderson was discussing it with me at breakfast. Lots of hoity-toity people are going to be there," Fred said and Hermione gave a frustrated sigh.

"When am I going to be prepared? Everything that's happened these past two days has totally wrong-footed me," Hermione said sounding petulant.

"Well now you have some notice and you should be able to prepare."

Hermione and Fred had arrived at the bottom floor and they went out into the lobby and out the front door. Sunshine was blossoming in the surrounding green hills, and Hermione stopped for a moment to take a deep breath of fresh mountain air.

Fred waited for her to stop taking in the outdoors and then he lightly grabbed her arm.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

'Pop' and they were out of sight. Hermione knew where she was going and Fred did not, so he could only tag along for the ride. They arrived in a small meadow, beside a dense yet short hedge, over which they could see a small country road leading into a bustling town. They both cautiously looked around, hoping to avoid suspicious muggles. Luckily, the field they were in was deserted and the town beyond the hedge was busy, but not towards their end. Hermione checked to make sure her robes were in order and then set off along the hedge making Fred jog to keep up with her.

There was a break in the shrubbery twenty feet down the meadow and Hermione made for that. Moving quickly, she walked onto the side walk and nonchalantly changed her pace to a more normal speed. Fred caught up to her and looked around. He saw the muggle cars running by, lots of them and none magically englarged inside like the ones he was used to. He'd been to Muggle towns before, his father being particularly fascinated by them, but that had only been for very brief visits and they had never went out walked around like this.

Hermione was a pro though, she was muggleborn after all. She looked briefly at Fred's amused face and smiled.

"This will be your emersion into muggle culture. Next time we see your dad you can make his day and explain things," Hermione said and Fred nodded distractedly.

"I'm listening," He said when he looked at Hermione and she looked a little peturbed, "I am your grasshooper, mosh me as you will, wise one."

Hermione laughed and shook her long hair out behind her.

"Are you making fun of me, or do you really not know the proper line?"

"Both," Fred said grinning.

"It's a muggle movie line. It's grasshopper, and you say mold me," She corrected.

"Right, right. I knew that," Fred said carelessly.

They kept walking, up toward the center of town. The sidewalks became crowded and Hermione ended up grabbing the back of Fred's shirt and letting him guide her through. Being jostled didn't faze Fred, but Hermione was knocked about quite alot. Finally they emerged in the town square. There was a gated garden in the very center and shopped littered the nearby buildings.

Hermione smiled and pulled her purse closer to herself, self-consciously making sure it was still there.

"Where would you like to go first. Oh wait, don't tell me. A book store?"

"No, suprising as it is, I would like to go into a shoe store," Hermione said trying to keep a straight face.

"I'm shocked! How could you lead me on like this," Fred said dramatically and Hermione smacked his arm lightly, because some old women with light blue hair were staring.

"Muggles or not, you are a very strange person," Hermione said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I know, but that's what draws everyone to my magical side. I'm fun!"

"Can you blend in when we go into the shop," Hermione pleaded.

"Yes, yes. I'll be the picture of a normal muggle brother out shoe shopping with his sister," Fred said innocently and Hermione pulled a face at his words. That wasn't normal at all. No brother she knew went shopping with their sisters.

Fred ignored her look and followed her into the shoe store. The lady behind the counter looked up immediately and nervously played with her name tag. She moved from behind the counter with a speed that suprised Hermione and was standing in front of them a falsley cheerful smile on her face, in a matter of seconds.

"Can I help you?"

"No, thank you. We're just looking," Hermione said in a sugary-sweet tone.

"We're having a sale today, buy one pair of shoes, get another pair free," The sales lady said and Hermione gave her a tight smile.

"Alright, thank you."

Once the woman had went back to the counter, Fred turned to Hermione with an amused look.

"Pushy aren't they?" He murmered.

"Only a little," Hermione said lightly, but she was staring at a spot over his shoulder. Her eyes lit up and she moved around him, walking with a glazed lookin her eye and her arms outstretched in front of her, to Fred she looked like someone possesed.

"These are so cute," Hermione exclaimed holding up a pair of navy stiletto's with small polka dots.

Fred rolled his eyes.

"I never took you for the type to have a fetish for shoes," Fred said eyeing Hermione.

She put the shoes down slowly, as though she really didn't want to let go of them and turned to look up at Fred.

"I've never told anyone," She said with deadly serious composure.

"Really," Fred said and Hermione giggled.

"Yes, my parents know, but Harry and Ron don't. I hope we can keep this between us," Hermione said converstionally as she spotted another pair of shoes that made her face brighten once again.

Fred shook his head and followed Hermione who was holding a pair of purple trainers in her hands as though they were made of precious gold. Fred looked around at the other shoes on display. Most of them were dull black or brown, but one pair of heels caught his eye. He picked up the lurid orange heels carefully and put them on the floor. Hermione was too enthralled in the shoes she wanted to notice what he was doing.

Fred kicked off his own worn trainers and pulled off his socks. Balancing carefully on one leg, he slipped his foot into the first heel. Quickly, the second one followed and Fred wobbled for a second, not used to walking on anything at this elevation. Taking mere baby steps, he walked a bit aways from Hermione and then turned.

"Are these my color?"

Hermione whipped around and stared at him, as he sashayed his way towards her for the full effect. The sales lady was over like a bullet. Smiling amusedly at Fred's antics, but she didn't say anything for fear of Hermione's reaction. Hermione sucked in a big breath and absolutely howled with laughter. Fred grinned mischieviously and tried to perform a routine he had seen once before, a boisterous little tap dance.

Hermione gasped and hiccuped, she couldn't control her laughter for anything. It was just too comical to see Fred in those awful heels.

The sales lady, interrupted Fred's spirited dance, "Do you want me to wrap those up," She asked hopefully.

Fred stopped in midstep and put his foot down rather hard, making him look like a petulant child.

"No, these really aren't that comfortable," Fred said shrugging and stepping out of the shoes.

"I'll just put these back on the shelf," The lady said taking the shoes and walking away from Fred with a frigid flair about her.

"She thinks you're a cross-dresser," Hermione pointed out as she grabbed a pair of crocheted flats and headed towards the counter.

Fred went and put his socks and shoes back on and joined Hermione at the door. She'd purchased her shoes and was looking quite cheerful.

"Where to next," Fred asked and Hermione smiled.

"A costume store."

They went outside and by now the wind had started to pick up and there wasn't as many people on the streets. They walked down the sidewalk for a bit, until Hermione spotted a blue koisk. She hurried towards it, forcing Fred to follow through a gaggle of short older women. They all looked up at Fred as though he were an imposing giant and scurried away down the street.

Hermione opened the door and stepped inside the large blue box. Grabbing Fred's arm, she dragged him in alongside her. He shut the door and turned to watch Hermione going through a relatively large book, with lots of yellow pages. She skimmed the contents, and then her finger landed on a certain spot and she stopped and read that part thouroughly.

"There's a costumer shop on Wiltshire Street, that's only a block away from this one," Hermione said flipping to the map in the front.

"Okay," Fred said realizing for the first time how close together they were.

Hermione was pressed against his front, her hand particularily close to his leg. She turned and look up at him, questioningly.

"Since when did you get so tall," Hermione said suddenly. Her stomach had dropped like she was on a rollercoaster, and she didn't like it one bit. She couldn't remember him being this tall when she was younger, but that comment wasn't very important. She just felt like she had to say something, anything, so he'd stop looking at her that way.

"You just never noticed," Fred said shrugging, but his gaze was intense as he stared at Hermione's face.

Hermione allowed a soft smile and then reached around Fred to open the door. Using her body, she backed him out into the street. Fred's nerve ends were on fire. He'd never felt so on edge before. Hermione didn't give him much of a look, before she started walking down the street in the direction of the costume shop.

They were both silent as they walked to to the costume shop, both so deep in their thoughts that they didn't give a thought to conversation. Besides, Hermione didn't know what to say, and what Fred wanted to say would only come out awkwardly.

When they arrived at the costume shop, Hermione looked up at the ragedy old sign proclaiming, 'Carlyn Suanders, Costumer, Since 1800', with trepidation. The building was rather shabby and the costumes displayed in the dirty windows, were old and disheveled looking. Sighing, she went in through the door that Fred had kindly opened for her.

The inside was different than Hermione had expected, especially after seeing the outside. Costumes were hung on neatly organzied racks and in fact this looked much like a dozen department stores that Hermione had been in before. She went over to a rack and pulled out a clever looking Wizard's cape and hat. If she smiled to herself, at the naivety of the muggles.

Fred was busy looking at a Storm Trooper helmet, which seemed to have fascinated him. Hermione game to his side just as he picked up a white gun and was pretending to shoot the ape suit that was hanging a few feet away. Taking the helmet off, Fred grinned her at, his hair now sticking up at strange angles. Hermione stood on her tip-toes and tried to smooth it down.

"What do you have in mind," He asked her as she rocked back on her heels.

"I'm not sure yet. I was thinking maybe a peacock," Hermione said gesturing to a very colorful dress that hung on display near the register.

"Good idea. I was thinking maybe a tiger," Fred said pointing to a tiger suit near his elbow.

"Orange, how appropriate," Hermione said shaking her head as she walked off to go ask the sales person to get the dress down for her.

Hurrying into the dressing room, Hermione stroked the real feathers sewn onto the dress. It was beautiful and just like Hermione, it didn't show off too much cleavage and wasn't too sexy, but it did make her feel good. She slipped it over her head and admired herself in the mirror. From the moment she'd laid eyes on it she knew this was the dress she was going to buy.

Fred on the other hand, wasn't very satisfied with his choice. The tiger outfit had seemed good at the time, but now that he had it on, he realized it was itchy and dreadfully hot. Quickly throwing it off, he went back out into the store and wandered around the racks. Nothing caught his eye for the longest time and he felt like giving up, when he came across a dandy's costume from the 1800's.

It was marron and had a black ruffled cravat, but Fred took it with him anyways.

It fit nicely and was tight in places that Fred wasn't sure he was comfortable with, but he relented. He did look good after all. Carefully he put the suit back on the hanger and exited the dressing room. Hermione was already standing by the counter, her arm being weighed down by a huge shopping bag.

Fred put his outfit on the counter and pulled out his coin purse, he looked at in horror all of a sudden. He didn't have any muggle money! He looked wide-eyed at his suit and then at the clerk who was staring morosely at him. Hermione knew what was wrong and so she laughed and tossed a few bills at the clerk. He looked relieved and got Fred his change which he quickly handed to Hermione.

"I'm sorry, I forgot I didn't have money," Fred said and Hermione shrugged carelessly.

"I had your mother send us along some muggle money. It's really money from the Order's vault," Hermione said.

"Thank you," Fred said and Hermione just smiled a secret smile.

Their shopping done, they headed back to the empty meadow and apparated to the Inn.

A/N: You all are too good to me. Keep up the reviews!

Two Bit's Twobit: Yep, had to think of something to stop Mrs. Henderson from thinking of her as complete slime. He might, just a little.

cantateddomino: Oh yes, I can't spell it correctly either, so I didn't even try. Thank you! Oh of course I could! Yay, I love this kind of thing. And I bet it's not crap at all.

tiger-lily9240: Haha, no go ahead and insult her all you want, but yep she's starting to not feel like wringing Hermione's neck.

Fk306 animelover: Yes, she's very talented that way.

Close2miiheart: Oh will they ever. Haha!

Moony's-Wolf:Yeah I'm excited to be writing that too. Your comment had me wondering if I had mentioned that Fred's hair was indeed brown again, so I went back and read what I had written and sure enough, it does say that he changed his hair back. That would been a disaster, if I'd forgotten it though, something like Hair-Gate.

RonGranger: Haha of course! Personally, I think Fred would make an awfully good pillow ;)

Moony4Moony: I never set out to make Mrs. Henderson likeable and since you hate her with a passion I feel like I've done my job.

bri007:What is your ship of choice then? Me either, that's why this is my first ever Hermione/Fred story that I've written, but I must say I like how it is going.

RedXTears: The funny thing is that blue isn't my favorite color, green is. I did use blue alot in that chapter. I think Fred has quite a few blue robes and they would look dashing on him. I'm not actually sure what color his eyes are, but blue seems good to me. By the way, if you hadn't noticed, blue-eyed guys make me weak in the knees.

Sarah: Heck yes it was. Thank you, thank you. There are a couple really good Fred/Hermione stories that inspired me.. my favorite is The New Mrs. Weasley, that's a good story to go read. Thank you again, it really just wrote itself, I didn't plan it or anything, it just came out that way. Guess it works.

scucci45: Thank you very much, you are very complimentary. Haha, yeah I don't like when thery flip out about sleeping in the same bed either. My thought was that Fred is such a funny person, he'd make you feel comfortable and take your mind off something, even if it bothered you. That's the story behind that.

Fiestykitty: Sorry for being such an evil person. School started so updates might be a little few and far in between during the week, but weekends I will try my hardest to put a chapter up.

dolface546: Haha thanks, I liked it too, but was a little worried it was too provactive... then I thought... to hell with it.. it's my story. Hermione can say what ever I please.

kez192: You asked a lot of burning questions. Now I have one of my own, are you from the U.K.? Alright now that that is out of the way, I can answer your questions. No, Angelina and Fred are close and once went out, or at least in this story they did. That's why he feels it would have been easy to play a married couple. This actually picks up where HBP leaves off, I made it unspecific... for good reason... who knows what's going to happen in book 7. I love Chicago too, very entertaining.