A/N: Thank you all for the private messages and well greetings. I love Denmark! Drunk Danish people are funny, they kept discriminating themselves. Oddly and disturbingly entertaining. Just wanted to share that piece of random information. :D
Only a couple more weeks and I'm back home! So frequent updates might be back on track. YIPEE! But jetlag really has a bad effect on me. ARGH.
And I finally moved the rating from K+ to T because we will be seeing a lot of intimate interaction from now on. HAHAHA!
Disclaimer: It's not mine, I just like playing with these characters. Mehehehe! :))
"Rambling"
by SJRegina
Hermione always found herself rambling whenever in the presence of the one and only Fred Weasley, but that's just how Fred liked it.
Chapter 19: Oblivious Secret Lovers
"And she told me she went to Paris!" Fred Weasley was chomping on his food while talking about Hermione's letter at the breakfast table.
For the 276th time. (As of George's count)
Ron banged his head on the table in frustration, while Percy sighed and palmed his forehead. George just rested his head on his fist and played with his food lazily, having used to Fred's rambling about Hermione.
Mrs. Weasley was beaming at friend in a very motherly way, she thought it was so adorable that Fred had a crush on Hermione.
"Fred dear, swallow your food."
Fred swallowed his food slowly. Ron stopped banging his head and raised it slowly, hoping that his prayers about Fred shutting up would be fulfilled. But the silence didn't last long when Fred spoke again, "And then, have you seen her eyes when she rambles? It's so full of thought and-"
"Finish up everybody! Floo's ready." Mr. Weasley called to them. Ron immediately stood up and hugged his father in a fierce hug.
"I've never been this happy to hear that dad." He then ran up to the fireplace and said, "Diagon Alley!"
"Ron!" Mr. Weasley followed Ron just to make sure he didn't wander off.
Percy promptly followed while Molly was clearing up the table. George finished his last piece of his toast and stood up but Fred caught his arm.
"Fred, you alright?" George gave a worried look.
"George, we can't go! I'm not yet ready, what if I see Hermione and I smell bad and-"
"Freeeeeeed." George said whiningly. "For the thousandth time, YOU. LOOK. OKAY."
"Are you sure? We could always follow later."
"Fred, listen to George. You look perfectly fine. I'm sure Hermione will like it." Molly gave an eye smile. Fred blushed furiously upto his ears.
"I'm not trying to impress Hermione. I know very well I look effortlessly good." Fred stood up proudly. He and George had gotten taller over the summer and let their hair grow long. They lost some of their baby fat too. Their voice became slightly deeper and their shoulders had grown wider.
Puberty had now taken its turn on them, but George slightly matured more. Just slightly as Fred was too busy thinking about Hermione all summer.
"Riiight." George rolled his eyes and dragged Fred to the fireplace.
. . .
The Weasleys were all very exhausted with all the shopping. Fred was sad in the over-all trip as they rested in a side-walk bench. So far, there was not a single sign of Hermione and Mrs. Weasley declined his and George's pleadings of buying new brooms because they had barely enough money to buy groceries.
"Come on boys, we've still got books to buy. Off to Flourish and Bott's and we're heading home." Fred huffed before standing lazily at the same time as George and they both walked lazily to the bookstore, their hands in their pockets.
George was particulary down for not getting a new broom and Fred's bad vibes got to him as well because of the unique bond they had.
Molly looked at them sadly and thought of an idea to cheer them up. "Fred, George come here."
Fred and George walked to their mum, their heads still looking down. "Yeah?" They both said together.
"I'm sure I could spare a couple sickles." Molly searched her pockets for coins and her face lit up as he handed each of them a sickle. "Go buy yourself an ice cream, we'll buy your books for you. But do catch up with us alright?"
Smiles immediately grew on their faces and they both fisted the sickles happily. "Thanks mum!"
They ran to the ice cream parlor nearby. Molly smiled at his two boys as they ran, puberty was now getting to them. Fred even had a big crush on Hermione, he wouldn't be surprised if one day, George would be as smitten as Fred too.
It reminded her so much of her own brothers, she remembered how Fabian was so smitten with that bird Altheia.
Altheia.
She cringed just remembering her. She left a piece of her brothers' story from Fred, George, and Hermione. Perhaps one day, but they really didn't need to know about that. How she was one of the reasons they had died and why their family had been put in danger. But-
"How come they get to have ice cream mum?" Ginny who was holding her mum's hand pouted up at her mum.
Ginny disturbed her thought and looked down at her daughter and brushed a stray hair on her face and slipped it behind her ear.
"None with that. Come on, we've still got groceries to buy."
. . .
"Hermione darling, why the long face?" Hermione pouted at his father's comment.
"Haven't seen your friends yet?" Her mum asked.
"No." She sighed in disappointment.
Their trip to Diagon Alley was almost over and Hermione was starting to get depressed as she had not caught a single strand of fiery red hair.
Her dad ruffled her hair making it even more frizzier.
"Dad!" She swatted his father's hand making his father love. Then she did her best to flatten her hair. Over their summer vacation to France, she had been secretly stashing magazines from her mother's bedroom on managing hair. It had helped quite a bit, but humidity and ruffling it only made it look like what it was before.
She'd been more conscious on the way she looked, the way she dressed. It sometimes bothered her, when had she ever been worried on how she looked? Maybe Fred thinks I'm ugly.
Hermione's eyes widened at the thought of Fred. Actually, he'd been occupied in her thoughts all this summer. She'd been having dreams of him at times as well.
"Honey." Her mother promptly interrupted her thought and handed her 3 Sickles. "These are 3 sicklings right?"
Hermione giggled at her mother's mistake. "3 sickles, yes."
"Just this once, I'm going to let you have any ice cream you want." Her mum smiled at her.
Hermione gasped. Her parents were both dentists and were very touchy to sweets.
Hermione fisted the coins in her hand and smiled at her mum. "Thanks mum!" She called behind her as she ran away.
. . .
"Where do you think she could be?" Fred asked George as he ate his ice cream.
"I dunno. Don't worry Fred, we'll still get to meet her at Hogwarts." George replied and Fred nodded. He looked at George in disgust as his twin brother licked and slurped on his ice cream loudly.
"George, you're gonna make a-" George's ice cream scoop fell on his shirt from his sloppiness. "-mess." Fred stiffled a laugh but it was obvious in his facial features that he did his best to hold it. He couldn't hold it anymore and guffawed happily, laughing at his brother and his soiled shirt.
George glared at Fred but then it turned into a mischievous smile. Fred stopped laughing and became frightened from the sudden change of his look. He knew that look.
"Don't even think about it." Too late.
George laughed like a maniac as he grabbed Fred's ice cream and slammed it on his head, leaving drippings if vanilla on his face. "That's it!" Fred grabbed George by the shoulders and they both wrestled.
Right in the middle of the street.
People passing by were giving them odd looks, Fred even heard a woman say 'Silly boys! How ere they raised by their mother?' and even a 'I want to join!' But they didn't care and kept on wrestling playfully. It was not until a familiar voice called to them that they stopped.
"Fred! George!" George was on top of Fred fisting his shirt, his head slightly tilted because Fred was below him grabbing the hair on top his right ear. Fred's hand was fisted on George's collar.
Hermione giggled at the sight of the two. "No hug? I'm disappointed in you two!"
Fred pushed George to stand up, making George land in a painful thud. Completely forgetting about his brother, Fred ran to Hermione and twirled her around as he hugged her. Hermione's laugh echoed beautifully in his ears.
He loved making Hermione laugh.
He then stilled Hermione and they both hugged each other in the middle of the street. Forgetting everything else around them.
He got taller, Hermione thought. And his shoulders had become wider and his hair grew longer. His chest got harder. He looked much more handsome than he already was. She blushed furiously at the thought. But he missed Fred so much.
Fred nuzzled his nose in Hermione's curls. She had lost some of the baby fat in her cheeks, but it was still rosy just like he remembered. And she still smelled like vanilla and lavendar.
"Oi! Why does Fred get the happy reuniting hug and I don't?" George shouted at them playfully, a fake hurt look on his face. Hermione giggled and let go of Fred. Fred glared at George, making George snigger at his brother's annoyed face.
He sensed Fred sending a message in their twin bond that said, Must you always be a moment ruiner?
George mocked Fred as Hermione hugged him and George waggled his eyebrows teasingly. Rubbing his hand up and down on Hermione's back. In a friendly manner, mind you.
"I missed you guys." Hermione looked back, still hugging George. "Don't just watch there." Hermione gestured Fred towards them and held an arm out to him.
Fred chuckled and joined their hug, all of them snuggling and enjoying the embrace and just the feeling of having each other again.
Together.
Fred distantly heard a kid that passed by tell his bigger sister, "They're sweet siblings, why can't we be like that?"
He smiled at what the kid said and thought how he wanted to be more than just a brother to Hermione.
And the fun part was that he didn't know, that Hermione was thinking the exact same thing.
George just thought how much of a waste the ice cream was, and that these two were two of the most oblivious people on Earth.
A/N: I love cheese, yummy-yummy cheese~ And I also love it when you review! :333
And sorry for the lame title, coudn't think of any that would be appropriate to incorporate in the story. And I'm not really very happy with it, but I'll do my best to make up with the next chapters. :D
I think I've got some bad news tomorrow, so watch out!