Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Harry Potter and all other series characters are the property of J.K. Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is not financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.
Title: Child's Play
Category: Harry Potter
Pairing: FWHG
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Rating: M (Language, Sexual Situations)
Summary: Fred Weasley, on the brink of frustration with his shop, gets an unexpected visitor from this past. Hermione Granger, just back to the UK, finds new solace in her life as a single mother through the help of an old friend. FWHG
First Day of August 2008
"I'm going to need an actual reason why you didn't like that house," Hermione demanded as she doused the chips on her plate with some malt vinegar.
"I told you," Fred reminded once he finished a swallow of his dark amber colored pint. "Haunted."
The Leaky Cauldron was a buzz of noise around them as the pair sat together at a small secluded table in the corner enjoying their meal. The crowd in the pub was quick to fill up around them for a few rounds of drinks after a long work week. A purposefully raggedy looking man was beginning to tune his guitar across the way on the makeshift stage by the fireplace. The same group of older wizards that always seem to be here sitting directly at the bar.
It was an atmosphere that Fred found comfort in. He has spent plenty of nights just like this with George at a back table working the night away over some pints. They used to get yelled at by Tom for comedering extra tables in order to fit all the parchment they had sprawled out. He would alway threaten to ban them for good, but every week they'd be welcomed back with their regular pints already being poured as they walked in. Of course, that could've been because of the few extra galleons that they would always slip him. But it's been months, if not years at this point, since he and George have had a night like that.
"And what would be wrong with it being haunted?" Hermione continued to argue. "You grew up with a ghoul in your attic. We went to school with multiple hordes of ghosts. Hell, I've even attended a death day party. That's not a real reason."
"This was a different kind of haunted," Fred insisted as he took a chip from her plate. "Like a 'get possessed and open the Chamber of Secrets' kind of haunted."
"A different kind of haunted," Hermione mocked back with an eye roll. "You're ridiculous."
Fred smirked at the insult as he leaned in closer across the table as the noise around them seemed to get even louder. "Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you honestly thought that was the house for you?"
"No," she reluctantly admitted with a sigh after a brief moment. "But I'm getting to the point where I'll make almost any place do. I mean, I survived for years in a 500 square foot apartment in Harlem. I can adapt."
"Square foot? Apartment?" Fred repeated. "Listen to the American rubbish coming out of your mouth. Speak metric to me, darling."
Hermione gave him a small half-hearted chuckle to humor him. "My flat was about 45 square meters. Does that give you a better visual?"
"Much better," he nodded as he picked up his drink again. "But you do have to remember that you lived there by yourself. You kind of have a small child to also house now."
"I wasn't by myself," she defended. "I had Crookshanks."
Fred's laugh came sputtering through his sip. "You realize that you just compared your son to a cat, right?" He asked after his coughing subsided. "I mean they're pretty comparable in size from what I can remember but. . ."
"Of course not," Hermione sighed, slightly aggravated. "I'm just getting completely frustrated with all of this. I should've just taken that first house we saw 2 weeks ago."
"Absolutely not," Fred's voice stern with disagreement. "That place was even worse than the one from today. Way too far away."
"You know that location doesn't really matter when you can apparate right?" She reminded him, mimicking the swish of the spell with her hand using a chip as a small wand as she spoke.
"It matters when you would have to live outside of Sheffield, for Merlin's sake," he scoffed before playfully swatting the chip out of her hand. "Unless you've changed your mind about having Julian attend a muggle primary-"
"Fair enough," she groaned, cutting him off. She picked up the same chip and began to toy with it nervously between her fingers. "But Neville leaves for Hogwarts in another week," she lamented. Fred, sensing a shift in her mood, leaned forward to listen better. "He said we can stay if we need to but I told him when I originally moved in that it'd just be for the summer and I really don't want to be even more of a burden."
"You and Julian can just move in with me," Fred immediately answered with a shrug, like it was the obvious solution.
"Oh perfect," Hermione scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "A run down two bedroom flat above the noisiest shop in the alley with a 30 year old roommate. I'm pretty sure I'd win parenting awards for that," she snapped, sarcasm dripping from her words.
A deafening silence fell between the pair as Fred leaned back away at her words. They like to take the mick out of one another, but this wasn't the playful banter he's grown accustomed to.
"Sorry," Hermione immediately apologized as her words sunk in, shaking out of the agitation that just took her over. "That was out of line and came off quite meaner than I meant." She reached over to place her hand on top of his. "You know that I appreciate everything you've done for us. I just can't keep impeding on you."
Fred saw that her brown eyes reflected the same regret of her words. "That's alright," Fred assured her, choosing to make light of the moment, but he still moved his hand away from hers. "You're actually quite spot on," he mused before taking a big pull from his glass. "Except for the fact that it's actually a one bedroom. George's old room doesn't even have a door. We got creative with some curtains."
Hermione half heartedly laughed before taking a matching pull of her own pint. A slight awkwardness still lingering between the pair. "I just feel so off-form," she confessed after a moment. "I've been back here almost 3 whole months and I still don't have a place. If my teenage self could see me, she'd be absolutely appalled."
"She was a wee bit judgemental," Fred agreed with a slight nod. "That doesn't seem to have changed much," he added with a sly smirk. He could feel the tension from her earlier comment finally break at his cheekiness as a chip from Hermione's plate came flying at his face.
"I just feel like I can't focus lately," she continued to muse as she settled back into her seat. "It also doesn't help that we have-" She abruptly paused to gauge Fred's face for a moment before carefully asking, "Has Julian brought up anything about Sunday to you?"
His brows furrowed as he thought about it. The boy seemed like himself all week at the shop. They even started to make a few prototypes of Julian's figurines to begin testing. Julian chatted plenty all week, but nothing out of the normal from their other weeks. "Not that I can remember," Fred answered truthfully.
"Nothing about his grandparents?" She pushed. "Or dad?"
"No," he reported honestly, though his interest immediately peaked at the question. "Should he have? Is something going on?"
"I guess not," she pondered, mostly to herself. "I haven't really reminded him about it. But he's such a clever boy at times, that I wouldn't have been surprised if he did remember without me."
"What's going on?" He pressed again, his curiosity vastly growing with her vagueness.
Hermione paused for a slight moment, then let out a sigh. "Sunday is Lucas' birthday," she revealed with a sad smile. "His parents are going to portkey over for the day from America."
Fred nodded as he soaked in the information. He'd gotten so used to having the two of them here in England that he practically forgot that Julian must have actual blood relations back in America. "You don't seem very thrilled about it," Fred observed carefully, not sure if she'll be willing to divulge more to him.
Hermione took a deep breath, head slightly cocked to the side as she tried to think of the words. "The Weiss' can be . . . challenging." She took a brief moment to finish the last swallow of her pint. "They like for things to be done in the ways that they deem appropriate. If you follow their lead, then they're very supportive. But if you don't . . . well, I guess you can deduce what they might be like."
"Potentially Umbridge-ian?" Fred guessed, unable to think of a better phrase.
"Yeah," Hermione agreed with a small snicker. "And because of that, Lucas liked to push their limits," she explained stoically. "He joined the academy newspaper instead of Quidditch. He moved straight into the city out of Ilvermorny to become an auror instead of back home and joining the family Apothecary. Hell, he would even just wear muggle trainers underneath his cloaks just to spark a fight with them." She chuckled humorlessly at the memories of Lucas' many stories about his childhood. "But, of course," she admitted, "the biggest push was bringing me home. And pregnant, at that."
Hermione shook her head morosely at the memory of her first meeting with the Weiss family. "We got engaged to help appease them," she continued. "It worked for a little bit but, with neither of us really pushing to set an actual wedding date, the novelty of that lost its appeal for them quite quickly. Luckily once Julian was here, they were instantly in love. But that also just made them turn their attention onto their grandson's life and what they want for him."
Her voice trailed off as her brown eyes drifted down to a fixed point on her empty glass, suddenly wishing that the pint would magically refill. "I told them that I would be able to properly look after Julian without their help," she explained dejectedly. "That I knew what I was doing when I took this job. And when they get here, they're going to find me still just staying with a friend. No actual home for their grandson, despite being back here for months now." She swallowed a lump that was quickly forming in her throat. "I assured them that he'd be safe and I can handle everything. That I - "
"He is safe," Fred reassured her, cutting off her ramblings. "You are handling everything, Hermione."
"Not by their standards I'm not." Her lips pursed in thought, still staring at her empty glass.
"That bullocks," he interjected, making Hermione's gaze break back to him. "They should be happy to see the kind of support system you both have here. That even if you haven't found your own place yet, you have no less than a dozen other places that would be happy to have you."
She nodded her head as she took in his words. "I know," she agreed, still with some wistfulness in her tone. "Logically, I know all of this. I just . . . I want to show them that Julian and I can be stable here. It's silly, after all these years, but I do want them to like me. Especially now that Julian will be their only grandchild."
"I must say this brief introduction you're giving them just paints them in an opulent manner," Fred spoke with a smile, hoping to lighten the moment.
"They obviously weren't happy to hear my decision to take him away from New York," she continued, undeterred. "They didn't necessarily fight me about it, but I could tell that they disagreed. I understand though," she sighed. "Back in New York, Lucas' memory felt more alive. He's easier to forget here and obviously they don't want that happening for Julian. But they don't understand that that might be the whole appeal of England for me."
Fred's eyebrow lifted in intrigue at that last sentence, but decided to ignore it for now. "Don't be so critical," he reassured. "He's only 4. Unfortunately, he's going to be lucky to have even a single memory of him."
The comment broke the melancholic mood of Hermione. "That's probably not the kind of comforting thought they'd like to hear on their son's birthday, Fred," her tone was sharp and disapproving.
Fred was happy to have pulled her out of the spiral she was in, even if it was just to yell at him. He quickly hid the smile that appeared on his face. "I know," he agreed, "but they gotta understand what you have going on here. I mean, let me explain to them-"
"You're not meeting them," she cut him off. "They're not going to meet any Weasleys."
"Okay," his voice drifted off at the dismissal.
"Not that I'm embarrassed by any of you," she quickly explained, now sounding scattered. "It's just that their dead son's birthday doesn't seem like the day to showcase our other family to them."
Relief washed over Fred. "I get it," he assured her with a nod. "You don't have to explain it to me."
"Thank you," she said sincerely before she took a moment to adjust her posture. Fred watched amused as she physically rolled her shoulders, effectively shaking off what just transpired. "Sorry for all of that. It's just been on my mind all week and with another horrendous house showing I-"
"You don't have to explain," Fred repeated with a smile before finishing his pint in a single long pull.
Hermione smiled back, feeling more relaxed. The visit has been plaguing her, only having disclosed it to Neville and even then she held back the full scale of the apprehension and anxiety she was feeling from him. But, for some reason, she couldn't help but tell Fred. Especially after she snapped at him.
She's never had a problem taking out her anger on him before. All of their rows back in their Hogwarts years prove that. But that felt different to her. That wasn't their usual banter, she felt very gruff at that moment. She just wanted to make sure that he understood that she didn't purposefully put him there in the cross hairs. That what she said wasn't truly what she thinks.
"So what are you going to do with them?" Fred asked, turning the conversation into a lighter mood.
"I was thinking of a trip to Brighton," she disclosed. "Lucas loved Coney Island, so I was thinking that the Palace Pier could be a good alternative. Spend the day with Julian going to a place that his father would've liked. Show the Weiss' that I'm still thinking of Lucas, even if we're an ocean away."
"That sounds like a nice plan, Hermione," Fred sincerely said. "If they seriously come here and think that you don't have their grandchild's best interests in mind, then they're completely mental."
A slower smile grew on Hermione's face as she took in the man across the table, her head tipping slightly to the side to take him in. "Is it strange to kind of wish that you were coming with us now?" She confessed. "Even just to have you bolstering me up from the sidelines."
Fred felt a slight warming in his chest. "I can still come if you'd like," he offered with a smirk.
"No," Hermione dismissed with a slight roll of her eyes. "Though I imagine that you'll have plenty of a presence already with Julian tittering on about everything. You've been his favourite topic as of late."
A smirk spread across Fred's lips at her words. "Glad to hear that the feeling is mutual," he replied coolly.
Hermione stared at that smirk. She's seen it a thousand times on his face before. But there was an aura around this one that she's felt like she has never seen before. One that wasn't just from his own self-satisfaction or from whatever absurdity he's orchestrated, but one that she couldn't quite place.
"Speaking of your protogé," she said as she broke their gaze to take a brief glance at her watch. "We should probably go collect him from the Potter's. He'll be miffed if we go back to your shop without him and I don't want to feel the wrath of a 4 year old tonight."
Fred nodded in agreement before following her lead as she pulled out some galleons from her bag and started to make her exit. He trailed closely behind her figure as they maneuvered around the other patrons of the pub. Instinctively, he placed his hand lightly on her lower back, silently letting her know that he wasn't far behind.
First Thursday of August 2008
For the first time in weeks, Fred was bored. He just stared at the pile of parchments left on his desk by Verity for his review, but he couldn't muster the energy to read even one sentence. The air in his office was much too quiet. He had even propped the door open an hour ago to let in the hum of noise from the workshop below, but that did little to fill the void of his missing companion.
This was all Ginny's fault.
Fred groaned at the thought as he turned his chair away from his desk. Outside the giant old factory windows, the clouds were looking dark and stormy. He didn't even have to go outside to know that the air was probably so thick with humidity that walking through it would feel like he was practically swimming. The dimmed grey sunlight that did come in just made this office even gloomier.
The miniature desk in the corner caught his eye as he turned. Scrap paper full of brightly colored scribbles and various crayons were thrown all over the area. Hermione gave him the whole spiel about why he should make Julian clean up his own mess, but Fred shrugged it off. He never minded a little mess. But that didn't stop Hermione from trying to clean it up the last time she was here. When they caught her in the act, Fred snuck up with Julian and they proceeded to add even more to the wreckage that was there before. Hermione gave up with an over exaggerated sigh, but Fred caught her smiling as she watched her son continue to throw his papers in the air with joy.
How did he let Ginny coax Hermione into letting her take Julian?
When they arrived at the Potter's to collect Julian last Friday, all Ginny could do was spout on and on about how well the boys were getting on. That James and Julian were practically attached by the hip already. And what luck, her season with the Holyhead Harpies was not starting up for another few weeks, so she'd be more than happy to watch him during the day so the boys can play together.
"Oh," Hermione hesitated, but only briefly. "That's so kind of you to offer, Ginny," she said delightly. "That would be lovely. I'm sure Fred wouldn't mind a bit of a reprieve as well." She let out a little laugh before catching Fred's eye, assessing his reaction with a raised eyebrow. Silently asking him his thoughts.
"Of course," Fred agreed at the time with a quick false smile to reassure his friend.
He couldn't blame Hermione for wanting her son to spend some more time with other kids his age. Especially the offspring of two of her closest friends. It's probably a better place for the boy than this stuffy workshop, the rational side of his brain tried to convince him.
Still he missed having Julian with him. It was only Thursday, but it had already been the longest work week that Fred could remember. It has also been the longest he's gone without seeing either Hermione or her son since they walked into his shop earlier this summer. That realization left him unsettled as he looked around his empty office.
During his daily store rounds, the loss of his little shadow was blatantly obvious, apparently. "Where's our little friend?"He heard that question in various different forms all week. Even the Pygmy Puffs seemed somber from the absence. The brightly colored fur had seemed to have dulled on a few of them.
Fred should've seen it coming. As soon as he convinced her to step into the Burrow, he should've known that his time with them was going to be cut down. Ginny, Harry, and Ron had wasted no time in laying their claim to her time, spending all of Saturday together. Fred was also pretty sure that they would've taken her Sunday as well if she wasn't already occupied with the Weiss family visit.
Even for the rest of the week, her schedule was apparently filled to the brim with various teas and lunches and play dates with what it seemed like to be everyone from Fleur and Bill to Luna and even Seamus and Dean who she apparently met for some after work drinks. Word of her return apparently spread like Fiendfyre and everyone was coming out of the woodworks to see her.
He actually wasn't sure when he'd get the chance to see them again. Without Fred watching Julian during the week, there hadn't been any communication with Hermione. No pick ups that turned into dinner. No quick chats over the coffee she would bring him in the morning. Not even the collection of real estate clippings that she promised she'd send him to review after that last disastrous house.
Well bollocks to that.
That thought jolted him out of his stupor. If he wanted to make sure he still got his time with them, he had to claim it, just like everyone else. And that's exactly what he's going to do.
Without another second of hesitation, Fred got up from his chair and bounded across his office to stick his head out his door. "Verity," he called to his left. "I'm stepping out."
The blonde head of Verity poked out of her own office door just a moment later. "You're going to go and get him, aren't you?" She asked with a smug smirk.
"Yes," he confirmed, sighing slightly at how apparent he was obviously being.
"Thank Merlin! If you had waited another hour then I'd have lost the pool to Bernard," she gloated, her smirk widening even more at him.
Fred's eyebrows lifted with mirth as he pulled out his wand. "Well I guess I could go back and work on those design approvals for a bit-"
"Just go get our boy," she ordered with a shake of her head.
Obeying her with a flick of his wand, Fred felt the familiar sensation of being both compressed and rocketed forward for a brief moment before finding himself right outside of the Potter household in Godric's Hollow.
He sheathed his wand back into his robe pocket before he stepped up the small garden path towards the door. His hand was lifted to knock on the front door when he paused at the sound of voices being carried out from the open window.
"He sent in this captivating piece about the chizpurfle population dwindling to the Quibbler last month. I then wrote back asking why they haven't just tried the conservation methods being used to preserve the umgubular sklashkilters-"
Fred softly snickered to himself at the dream-like voice of Luna Lovegood. Easily identified by the airy tone and slackened cadence.
"So now you're regularly exchanging letters with him?" He heard the voice of his sister ask.
Fred lowered his hand and leaned over the porch towards where the sound of the voices to the we're slipping out of the cracked window. He peered in from the corner, careful to not be seen, catching a view of the back of his sister's head and the left side of their white haired friend. "Well we've had about two dozen letter's between us now," Luna recounted innocently. "Would you consider that regular?"
"Yes," Ginny answered with a laugh. "Possibly even bordering on the territory of frequent. What was his name again?
"Rolf Sca-"
The high pitch whistle of a kettle then echoed through the house. As the two women left towards the kitchen, continuing their conversation in louder voices over the sound, a new plan of action then flashed into Fred's mind. He quickly snuck back to the front door and entered the house, using the loud hiss of the kettle to cover the noise of the creaky door. His feet then shuffled up the steps to the right of the entry, just in time for the piercing sound to be cut off as the kettle was removed from the flame. Ginny and Luna's voices were muffled, but Fred could still hear them from the floor below. Taking careful steps, he inched his way towards his nephew's room at the end of the hallway.
He pushed in the door to reveal the sight of 3 sleeping boys in a makeshift bed of blankets on the floor. Albus, on the far left, had his dummy soundly in his mouth with his arse high up in the air, like he just fell over while playing and simply decided to take a nap right there. James was situated in the middle, his arms clenched around Roary, the bright blue stuffed dragon that his Uncle Charlie brought him from Romania when he was born. Then there was Julian on the far left, sleeping on his side with his sandy hair tousled across the small pillow.
Fred smiled as he continued his measured steps to go and kneel next to the boy he was here to collect. "Mr. Julian," Fred whispered as he gently shook the boy's shoulder. "It's time to get back to the office."
The boy's brown eyes slowly blinked open. Delight shone in them as he registered who was waking him up. Julian opened his mouth but Fred kept the boy silent by quickly signaling him to stay quiet with a soft shush. Julian immediately mirrored Fred's hand motion by putting his index finger to his mouth, excitement still etched on his little face.
"I have a terrible emergency at the shop," whispered Fred. "You're the only one that I can trust to handle it with me. Would you like to come and join me, Mr. Julian?"
With the frantic nod of the boy's head in response, Fred's mischievous smile grew. "Excellent. Can you quietly grab your things?"
Julian nodded his head again as he carefully stood up and crossed the room to collect his rucksack. Fred took the brief opportunity to slip out his wand and a discarded piece of parchment that had been long forgotten in his pocket. He spotted a broken crayon on the floor and began to scribble a note on the blank backside of the parchment.
Rucksack now securely in place, Julian tip-toed back to Fred's side. The man placed the note on the empty pillow that Julian's head was just occupying moments ago. "Ready?" he asked, still in his hushed tone.
A little thumbs up of confirmation was the only response that Julian gave. Fred mirrored the child's thumbs up before reaching down and scooping the boy into his open arm. "Quietus," Fred muttered, aiming the charm at the bedroom door before disapparating from the home with the boy.
"That was so cool!" The boy yelled from Fred's arms as soon as they appeared back at Fred's office.
Fred laughed. "So you aren't mad that I snuck you away from the Potters?"
"No," Julian answered without hesitation. "I missed it here!" The boy emphasized his words with as tight of a hug that his little arms could manage around Fred's shoulders.
"Good," Fred smiled, placing the boy on the ground. "Now our small emergency happens to involve our Pygmy Puffs. Are you ready for the challenge?"
Instead of answering, Julian ran over to his small desk to quickly deposit his bag before pivoting to stand on his tiptoes to reach the coat hook on the wall next to it. Fred watched on in delight as the boy then put on the replica of his own magenta and orange work robes. The design team had surprised them both with the gift a couple of weeks ago, complete with Mr. Julian stitched across the left breast of the cloak.
"Ready!" Julian finally answered loudly, running back to Fred's side and slipping his small hand into the bigger one of his friend. The sandy-haired boy then began to lead the both of them out of the office talking an hour a minute about what Fred's missed from the past few days.
Fred had never seen such a dreary mood in the workshop perk up so quickly. It was almost like simply the aura of Julian acted like a pepper up potion for everyone they came across as they did their rounds. Even the fading Pygmy Puffs practically began to glow fluorescent almost instantly at the boy's touch.
Everyone wanted to know where the boy had been the past few days. Julian happily informed them all about his days hanging out with his new Aunt Ginny and cousins. The fun James and he had trying to catch the quaffle from Ginny as they ran around the yard. How James makes the best paper dragons, even after Albus has chewed up the paper. Even how jealous James said he was that Julian got to hang out at Weasley Wizard Wheezes all the time. Fred made a mental note to try and convince Ginny to let her boys visit more after that.
"Aunt Ginny said she was your sister," Julian stated as they walked back to Fred's office a couple of hours later. "Is that true?" He asked.
Fred nodded as he opened the door between the shop and the wearhouse for the boy. "It's very true. I have a scar from where she bit me as a toddler to prove it."
"Like how Lily is James and Albus' baby sister?" Julian continued to question.
"Exactly like that," Fred chuckled, leading the boy through the rows of desks with a hand on the shoulder.
Julian nodded in understanding. "And that's why James calls you Uncle Fred, right?"
"Yes," Fred answered, very amused at the line of questioning.
"Should I call you Uncle Fred too?"
That made Fred pause as they reached the bottom of the stairs that led up to the executive offices. A slight uneasiness crept up in his stomach as he considered the question. "Would you like to call me that?" Fred asked with a raised brow.
"I don't know," Julian shrugged. "That's just what James calls you."
Fred nodded in understanding at the boy's logic before he crouched down to eye level with the child. "I like you calling me Mr. Fred," he answered truthfully. "I like that it's a special thing for us."
Julian smiled widely at being called special. "I like calling you Mr. Fred."
"Good," Fred laughed, standing back up. He placed his hand back on Julian's shoulder to lead him up the stairs. "Because I have plenty of nephews and nieces, but there's only one Mr. Julian."
"Mr. George is close, but you're the only Mr. Fred," Julian stated as he began to hop up the steps, one at a time. Fred chuckled as he copied the boy's movement, jumping up each step right behind Julian.
They barely touched down on the top of the landing when Verity came out of her office and scooped Julian into a hug. "There you are!" She said joyfully, dropping the boy back on the ground after a couple of spins around. "Do you know how grumpy Mr. Fred was without you around?"
"Hi Verity!" Julian laughed.
"Is 'grumpy' the word?" Fred jumped in to ask.
"Well 'insufferable' would be more accurate, but he is only 4," Verity defended.
"I'm almost 4 and a half!" Julian informed her, trying to hold up 4 fingers with his right hand and a half finger with his left.
Fred grinned. "A very important distinction, Verity."
"Of course," Verity rolled her eyes at being ganged up on by the two of them. "By the way," she started, her tone immediately changing into her business voice. "I had a request come in for a meeting with you and George while you were out."
"With who?" Fred asked dispassionately. There were handfuls of people always reaching out for a meeting with the two of them. Whether it was product pitches for them to manufacture or just some sales team trying to get them into buying the latest and greatest cauldrons, Fred found most of the meetings quite tedious.
"Iola Minks and Thorn Talpin," Verity informed him.
"Talpin & Minks?" Fred's eyes almost bugged out in surprise at the rival shop owner's names.
His employee nodded in confirmation, sucking in her bottom lip nervously. That caught Fred's attention. It was not like his Head of Operations to be this apprehensive. "Run along to our office, Mr. Julian," Fred said as he patted the boy's back. "I'll join you in a mo'."
Fred waited for the boy to fully walk into his office door farther down the hall, before turning his attention back to the woman by his side. "What do they want to meet about?"
"They were vague in the letter," Verity informed him. "They just wrote that they wanted to introduce themselves in person and discuss the future of the quote, 'magical beauty marketplace'."
"Well that only sounds mildly threatening," Fred rolled his eyes. "Do they think they're going to intimidate us or something? They've only been officially in our market a total of 6 days. Unless they're just trying to catch us off guard or something. Play like they're here for just some friendly-"
"I don't know," she sighed, interrupting his rant. "The only way to know is to set up a meeting with them." Now it was Fred's turn to sigh. "It'll look bad to just ignore it, Fred," Verity added, knowing where the twin's brain was already heading.
He groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose in aggravation. "Fine," he spat out with a sigh. "I'll reach out to George and see when he can come in and we'll set it up."
"Thank you," Verity said with a tight lip smile before turning away. A smile quickly spread across her face as she caught sight of Fred's office. "I think I'll just go and collect my winnings from Roslyn now." Her mood turned lighter at the rib to her boss.
Fred rolled his eyes affectionately as they both walked away. Of course, his Chief Accountant Roslyn, was the money person behind the office bet. He'd have to stop by tomorrow and see what other pools she was running that he could get in on.
He was delightfully surprised to see his desk chair occupied when he stepped into his office. Julian was in her lap babbling at light speed as Hermione looked up as Fred entered the room. Her eyebrow raised in amusement as a smirk took over her face. "Kidnapping, really? Again?"
"I have never kidnapped him," Fred reminded her, with a smile of his own, as he sat in one of the visitor chairs in front of his desk. "He ran away of his own volition the first time. And this time, there was a work emergency. We left a note and everything."
Julian began to giggle from his mother's lap. "Oh, you mean this thoughtful note?" Hermione lifted the scrap piece of paper from in front of her. "Julian was called into work," she read out loud. "Please have his mother collect him from there at the end of the day. F.W." She set the paper back down with a shake of her head. "You almost gave Ginny a heart attack, you know."
"Like I said," Fred shrugged, unremorseful, "there was an emergency."
"Which was?" Hermione asked, now intrigued.
"The Puffs were sad because I wasn't here," Julian jumped in to answer.
Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes, though Fred spied a slight smirk on her face. "Of course, they were." She gave her son a squeeze with the arm wrapped around his waist. "Tell me, were you able to lighten their spirits?"
Julian nodded enthusiastically as he recounted to her their dramatic change in color at his touch and everything else they did today after his return. Hermione's eyes caught Fred's as they listened to the boy's tale. Fred visibly relaxed as he realized that there was no real anger in them. Instead there was an air of amusement within her brown eyes, though Fred couldn't be sure if it was directed towards her son or himself.
"So," Hermione began as her son wiggled free from her lap at the end of his tale to run over to his rucksack. "You couldn't even last a week," she taunted.
Fred smiled, unabashedly "I like having him around," he simply stated with a shrug, feeling bold. "I like having you both around."
The corner of Hermione's lip twitched with a smile, but she averted her eyes from his. Instead she chose to look at the note on the desk. "Well then," she said. "Maybe we can find a balance with Julian's schedule. Don't want those Puffs fading on our account."
Second Thursday of August 2008
Looking at the cottage, Fred instantly knew that he should've reached out to Russell earlier. The estate agent had always done right by George and him when it came to scouting out their shop locations. And, judging by the expression on Hermione's face, it was clear that Russell was able to capture the golden snitch once again. Fred laughed to himself at the thought as he took in the sight of the house.
"It's almost vexing how good you are," Fred playfully complained to his friend.
Russell let out a low laugh as he patted the man next to him on the shoulder. His white teeth seemed to glow brighter in contrast with his dark skin. "Couldn't disappoint my favorite clients," he said in his deep timber tone. "Especially for such a special request." Russell ribbed at Fred with a lift of his dark eyebrow, eye's flickering over to Hermione. "It's not often I get to look at residential properties anymore."
It was never, Fred knew. Back when they first started working together, Russell was as naïve an estate agent as George and he were business owners but now he's one of the most notable commercial estate agents in wizarding London. During their first showing of their original shop, it was obvious that Russell was putting on airs for them. Strutting around overzealously with false confidence and bravado covering up as he stumbled through the basic selling points. But the two brothers couldn't help but like the man who was putting on such a great show. Russell has since, far and beyond, proven to have an eye for the best properties. Especially ones that had the small quirks that he knew Fred and George liked.
"So tell me your thoughts," Russell asked smuggly, already knowing that he nailed it.
"Hermione," Fred chuckled as he leaned closer to her side. "You haven't said a word since we arrived. What do you think?"
"It's so . . . English," she breathed out in astonishment. "I could almost cry." Her gaze hasn't moved even an inch away from the cottage as she continued to take in the sight of it.
A weathered brown brick path stood before them that led up to the Tudor-style cottage. A small overgrown garden of multi-colored flowers lined along the path that flowed into the hedge bushes underneath the paneled window before continuing in patches of ivy that crawled all the way up to the steep pitched roof. The colors of the plants were vibrant against the dark brown wood that framed and decorated the home, but not quite as vibrant as the unique coloring of the home's brick.
"It's also so . . . yellow," Fred said out loud what no one else was, using the same cadence as Hermione.
"Well it's not called Forsythia Landing due to a lack of the colour," joked Russell. "Seemed like the type of property to fit a Weasley."
"But it's not a property for a Weasley," Fred immediately reminded him with a side eye.
"Just a Weasley adjacent," Hermione pitched in with a small quirk in the left corner of her mouth, breaking out of her stupor at the sight of the home. "I'm not afraid of a little colour," she ribbed. "And I think it looks brilliant. Can we go inside?"
Russell once again flashed his smile, brighter than a patronus. "Of course! Follow me." Hermione followed very closely to the agent, hanging on his every word about the property. Fred trailed slowly behind, enjoying Russell's show even more now that it's not his own wallet up as the bait.
The home was situated in the district of South Lakeland, a few kilometers away from the center of Windemere village. It was secluded, but close enough for Julian to be enrolled at a primary school in town. There were neighbors close by, but the property sat on nearly two acres of land itself. All you could see in the distance were the multicolored rolling hills and the greenery of the trees all around. He knew as soon as they arrived that the Lakes District seemed to be a perfect fit for Hermione.
Fred watched Hermione closely as she asked Russell question and question while they toured the rooms on both floors of the home. Weathered exposed framework was seen across the ceiling of the main floor, matching to the creaking dark oak flooring beneath their feet, laid out like a track for them to follow. There was no furniture to be seen in the home causing an echo against the walls as the group walked along the slightly creaky floor.
There was a slight breeze coming in through the open windows as they explored, the midday lighting filling the cottage with a vibrant warmth. A warmth that instantly made Fred comfortable in the surroundings. A feeling that nestled deep into his stomach the farther they got into the home.
Double oak doors led them into a den at the end of the main hallway, as they neared the end of their tour. The inner wall was adorned with dark shelves decorated with detailed wood carvings along the edges. Fred could practically see Hermione's mind churning with thoughts of how many books she would be able to fit onto the empty shelves and probably more as she stepped forward with her fingers lightly tracing the carved designs. A large diamond panel picture window behind her illuminated her figure in the warm light as she almost danced around the space, talking to Russell about the design of the house and all of the potential uses for the room.
Finally, they wandered over to the kitchen that was built into an extension on the back of the cottage with dark red and white tiles defining the space. It was slightly cramped, just like everything else in the home, but it had a charm to it with the older appliances and a double sided brick fireplace attaching the original space of the living area with the addition.
"Is it odd that I can already picture tea time at that nook over there?" Hermione pondered out loud as she wandered closer to the area.
"Of course not," Russell reassured her. "If a place didn't inspire you at all, I would know that I did a shite job. Which would be impossible," he joked with a loud laugh. "What can you see for the other rooms?" He asked, pushing her to continue.
Hermione's lips pursed in thought, but only for a brief second. "Enough books to fill the shelves in the den. So much that you can't even see the wood behind them," she joked. "Plus many more in piles all around a couple of giant plush chairs." She turned her head to make eye contact with Fred. "Like the ones in Gryffindor Tower," she smiled nostalgically at him.
A wave of self satisfaction washed over him from his correct suspicions in the den. Fred smiled back at her as the memories of the countless hours he spent in those arm chairs. "I don't think you can duplicate those, but I can work on sneaking a few of them out," he offered. "Might need your help in distracting McGonagall though."
"We could just send in the big brown eyes," Hermione slyly suggested, a mischievous glint in her eyes that Fred has never seen before. But one that he really liked.
His eyebrows lifted in delight as he unconsciously moved closer to her. "I wouldn't have pegged you as the type of mother to use her son for nefarious purposes," he teased.
"I think you're underestimating how much I love those chairs," she smirked up to him, now inches away from her.
A vision of a pair of mismatched chairs from the Gryffindor Tower nestled right beside one another underneath the large diamond paneled window in the den flashed into Fred's mind. Him looking over from his spot in one of the chairs and seeing Hermione nose deep in yet another large tome in the other chair with a long forgotten cup of tea next to her. The warm feeling from before flared in his stomach at the thought.
"I was always partial to the couches in the Slytherin common room myself," Russell chimed in, bringing Hermione's attention back to him and startling Fred out of his stupor.
Her sharp laugh echoed as she stepped away from Fred. "That's only because you haven't sat in one of our chairs," she challenged the agent playfully, continuing to slowly explore the kitchen.
Fred felt like he was pinned in place by a Leg-Locker Curse as his thoughts scrambled around what had just happened in his brain.
"A couple large picnic tables outside to enjoy the sunny days," Hermione continued the exercise of envisioning out loud as she looked out a window to the slightly overgrown yard space behind the cottage.
Fred could picture it too. Julian running around with Fred's own nieces and nephews in the sun playing a makeshift game of quidditch while the adults sat together laughing over drinks and dessert.
"But a small dining table for right there by the fireplace," she added, a gesture towards the space she was describing. "Just big enough for us."
He knew that she meant herself and her son, but he couldn't help it as a third chair appeared in his imagination. The three of them sharing a late autumn supper with the fireplace roaring, filling the room with enough heat to combat the crisp British air outside.
"Julian getting up to Merlin knows what, in the small bedroom upstairs."
There was enough space in the far corner of the room for Fred to get Julian his own workbench. Piles of experiments that Julian and him had worked on together, right next to the boy's very own Pygmy Puff cage at the end of the bench. Maybe even some experiments that Julian made on his own that Fred helps to hide from Hermione.
"A plush loveseat in front of the fireplace in that main bedroom."
The faint glow of the embers from the last log in that fireplace on a stormy night as Hermione cuddled closer to him and sleepily whispered incoherent words against his collarbone.
"And a long, glorious bath at the end of a shite day in that clawfoot tub," Hermione sighed blissfully.
The collection of tousled brown curls falling over the back of the tub welcoming him as he opens the cracked bathroom door fully. Hermione's smile glowing up at him from the warm water, elated at the sight of him home after a long day.
A deep chuckle answered from the other end of the space. "It sounds like we might have a winner," Russell stepped in.
Hermione's face broke out into the same smile Fred just imagined. "I think we do," she couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. "I want to put in an offer."
Russell whooped in delight with a clap of his hands. "That's what I like to hear!" His bright white teeth fully back on display. "I'll have to just go and floo a message over to the seller and then we c-"
They were speaking some more, but their voices just blurred into the background for Fred. His thoughts were flying around in his mind like a frenzy of hornets whose nest just got kicked by some idiot.
Fred had resigned to be a perpetually single uncle a long time ago. Most of his siblings paired off and found their partners over the years and he's watched, incredibly happy for them. He just never felt that pull that he saw between all of those couples himself and he was resolved to the fact that he possibly would never feel it.
He's definitely liked people in the past. Even tried out some relationships, but they never felt like they were in the same realm as the ones he saw around him. They were all just for a bit of fun at the end of the day. There was just always an air around that felt temporary, even if the sex was fantastic.
Fred also liked the flexibility and independence he had. The last couple of times that he tried dating, he found himself pulling away before they moved beyond the beginning stages, just so he wouldn't have to prolong the inevitable. A casual cooling off for a casual fling.
But this new thing for Hermione felt different. Was this the pull that he should've been feeling? Like he wanted to just be by her side all the time? To be her closest confidante and friend, but also her lover? To want to just sweep her away to their own private hideaway and give her thousands of earth shattering peaks? Because he couldn't stop thinking about that mischievous glint that he saw in her eyes earlier and how he could pull that look out of her aga-
And Hermione Granger? The know it all prefect that perpetually annoyed him in school? Not to mention, the ex-girlfriend of his brother. He's known her for years, why now? She's just-
This wasn't the same Hermione though, his inner monologue argued back. Or maybe this has always been her and he just didn't really notice. This is a Hermione that challenges him and makes him laugh. A Hermione that is trusting enough of him to let him watch her son on an almost daily basis. One that he looks forward seeing cross the threshold of his office before depositing her stuff on what he now thinks of as her chair and letting down her curls from-
"You've been quiet all of a sudden," her voice broke through his racing inner monologue.
Fred shook himself out of his thoughts to refocus on Hermione's quizzical look. One of her full brown eyebrows was lifted with a matching half smirk that pulled up one side of her lips. Why hadn't he noticed how fucking cute this was before now?
"Just taking it all in," Fred offered, covering up his trance with a quick scan of the kitchen. The two of them were alone now. Russell must've run off to another room for something.
"And here I thought that you didn't like it," Hermione pondered out loud as her eyes followed Fred.
"I like it," he answered, maybe a little too honestly for his liking. "Perhaps too much," Fred paused to clear his throat. An impish grin slowly emerged at his lips in an attempt to mask his mood. "I might try to over bid y-"
A small hand covered his lips, cutting him off. He felt a jolt in his stomach at the sudden closeness. "I'd have you at the end of an Ebublio jinx before you could even utter that thought to Russell," Hermione playfully threatened him. At least, Fred hoped it was playful. The tone in her voice did drop lower than usual.
Fred's chest vibrated with muffled laughter as he reached up to lift Hermione's hand with his own. "I should be honored that your initial thought wasn't just a Full Body-Bind curse."
"And risk your frozen body scratching up these floors from the fall?" She countered. "Not a chance."
The pair shared a teasing smile for a moment. Maybe for a moment too long. As Hermione's eyes drifted towards where their hands were still connected close to Fred's head, she quickly dropped her hand away from him before stepping away and turning her attention back to their surroundings and beginning a slow pace around the space.
A flash of disappointment washed through him as she pulled away, but Fred chose to push that aside at the moment. "Presentable to the monstrous in-laws, you think?" Fred asked, hoping to change the mood.
"Presentable enough," Hermione offered half heartedly. "It's not really their style though. As they've made abundantly clear from their visit."
"Not very New York?" He jokingly asked.
"Not even close." she let out a humorless chuckle. "Way too English. Which makes it perfect."
She paused only slightly before continuing."You know, I swear Crookshanks held a slight grudge against me for moving him into that ridiculously small flat after he had free range of the Burrow for so long. If he was a ghost, I'm pretty sure he'd haunt the hell out of me for buying this place after he was gone."
She was rambling. Fred knew that it was a sign that she was beginning to overthink.
"You don't think it's too yellow, right?" She continued in her ramblings. "Because now I'm thinking that it migh-"
Fred reached out as she passed by him, placing his hands on her shoulders and stopping her pacing. "I think it's the perfect amount of yellow," he reassured her with a reassuring rub. "Stop overthinking. This is a perfect place for you and your son, Hermione."
He was deliberately ignoring the heat he felt radiating from under his palms as they rested against her shoulders. But he did get the full force of her brown eyes as they looked up at him with complete sincerity.
"Thank you," she told him, before a laugh slipped out. "I've been saying that to you a lot lately."
"Well I don't get tired of hearing it," he joked back.
"Seriously," she insisted. "Especially with Julian. You've really made this transition back home easier. I mean, if it wasn't for you reaching out to Russell, I wouldn't have even found this house."
A lump quickly formed in his throat at the earnesty in her voice. "It's been really fun right?" He asked slightly nervously, after he swallowed down the lump. He hasn't really thought this through, but when has he ever really thought something like this through? Fred was the kind of person that just followed his gut. "I think-"
"It really has been," Hermione agreed with a small smile on her lips at the same time. "I'll be honest, the last thing I expected when I moved back was us getting on like this. But I must say, I'm delightfully surprised. You turned out to be a good friend when I really needed one, Fred. Thank you."
Stretching up onto the tips of her toes, she reached up to place a kiss onto his left check. Fred was completely caught off guard and turned his head in surprise, causing her lips to fall right at the corner of his mouth.
Fred froze. He couldn't even move his hands from her shoulders as they felt like they were now made of lead. Especially when he also felt her freeze beneath them. She pulled back, but only far enough that her lips were no longer on his skin. The moment lingered in the air between them. Fred didn't dare move, not even a millimeter, even though his brain was screaming at him that it was on fire. He would wait for her to make the choice.
"Oh, sorry," she laughed as she pulled completely away from him just a moment later. "Didn't mean to catch you there." Her tone was light, but there was a new slightly frantic edge coming through.
"It happens to the best of us," Fred joked back, his hands moving into his pockets.
Hermione half-heartedly laughed before taking a second to clear her throat. "I should go and see if Russell is ready to head to Gringotts. Need to talk about finances if I'm really going to buy this place."
"Right," Fred nodded in agreement before Hermione left him alone in the kitchen.
A scattering of thoughts stormed into his brain as she disappeared from the doorway. What just happened? How could a switch flip just like that? But the biggest echoing thought was that she obviously wasn't in the place he was. She pulled away.
Fred understood what was different now. This Hermione was his friend. They were always in a friendly category, but the past couple of months have really changed that. She just confirmed it. But he's never really had a friend like this before outside of George. Not only did they confide in and lean on the other's shoulder but they pushed each other into challenges, all while laughing and playing around with her son. And he wouldn't want to have that disappear for anything.
He shook his whole body out in hopes that his mind might jolt back. That maybe this whole showing was just the result of some kind of charm that Russell casted to entice the sale. That would explain how he's convinced George and himself into buying some of their outlandish properties in the past. At least, that is what he's decided to convince himself.
Though, he couldn't help but feel some hope at one fact.
She lingered.
Last Friday in August 2008
"Fred."
He ignored it.
"Fred."
He heard his twin continue to call after him, but Fred didn't stop.
"Frederick!"
George's voice was now inflamed with anger as he trailed after his twin through the workshop. All of their employees stopped to stare as they passed. But Fred could care less. Let them stare. Let them see who is the one willing to fight for this. Fight for them.
At the end of the day, you're a joke shop.
Thorn Talpin's voice rang back through Fred's mind.
You have some incredible beauty and wellness products that are hidden underneath that façade.
The way that man emphasized 'façade' made Fred want to hex them all into oblivion.
But how many women want to get their products while dodging stink bombs and punching telescopes? We think with our guidance that Wonder Witch can become a household staple all around the world.
Thorn continued on but Fred had heard enough by that point. He just sat there, leg bouncing in growing annoyance, half listening and watching from the corner of his eye at his twin nodding along with what this man was saying.
You know, I've always had that worry about the line. About it being too hidden within the broader scope of the shop.
At his brother's words, Fred could no longer just sit there. He stood up abruptly.
Thank you both for your time.
Without a look back, Fred then walked right out of his twin's office. He didn't even stop for Verity as she asked him if the meeting was over as he passed her desk. He could hear the sound of his brother's apologies to their guests growing fainter as he continued to stride with purpose down the metal stairs and into the belly of the workshop.
Fred had only just made it past the first set of desks when he first heard George's first angry calls from the executive landing above.
The employees around Fred started to stare, but he continued his purposeful stride undeterred even as he heard the loud thumps of George's feet hit the metal stairs behind him.
"Fred! What are you doing?!" The calls continued as George continued to chase him, but Fred had too much of a head start.
Fred weaved through the desks and workers until he finally reached the back stairs to the flat above the original workshop. He didn't even bother to shut the door behind him as he stormed into the apartment, startling the women conversing over tea on the couch.
With just a glance, Fred knew immediately that Hermione could read on his face how badly everything just went. But Angelina didn't seem to share that ability. "Your meeting is already over?" His sister-in-law asked surprised as she put down her mug. "We weren't expecting you for dinner for at least another half an hour."
Fred opened his mouth to respond, but George finally caught up to his twin and entered from the stairwell. "It wasn't over," George informed his wife, obvious disapproval drenched in his tone. "Someone decided to just storm out."
"It was a shakedown, George." Fred argued, turning his full attention to his twin. "I'm not standing for it."
"It was the opposite of a shakedown," George defended with an eye roll. "It was a legitimate business partnership and I think we should consider it."
"Woah there," Angelina said as she stood up. "Back up. We're going to need more details over here." She gestured to Hermione and herself.
"They want to buy us out." Fred curtly explained.
George took a deep breath to try to calm himself, but to no avail. "They would like to partner with us to sell our Wonder Witch products through all their channels," he corrected his twin.
"For 85% of the profits."
"They'd be taking on the production, marketing, and inventory costs, Fred. All we would have to do is share with them the formulas and they'll be taking on all the overhead. That's a completely reasonable if not generous ratio for no longer having those extra costs." George continued. "They also want to invest into the expansion of the line. You and Iola could work together and brain-"
"Me and Iola?!" Fred cut in. "You're my partner George. We don't know anything about her and her process. Talpin basically didn't let her speak at all. I think that shows us the kind of partner that he would be to us. And I don't need a pompous arsehole to answer to. That's why we work for ourselves."
"He wasn't that bad. We could handle him."
"Did you even hear the insulting things he was saying?" Fred shook his head in disbelief at his twin. "That facade, as he so eloquently put it, is our shop. It's who we are."
"I think he made some interesting points," George continued to defend. "Our Wonder Witch products are a bit out of place with the rest of our inventory. I've always thought that."
"That's news to me. I've never heard that from you before."
George groaned in frustration. "Obviously you weren't listening. Too focused on the new instead of seeing the potential in what we already had."
The pause felt heavy as George tried to calm down as his wife crossed the small room to stand by his side in support. "Look this is a good thing, Fred," he tried to reason with a more even tone now. "Our products are so good that others want to sell them now. This would free up our time and make us more revenue."
Fred continued to shake his head in disagreement. "Why are you giving up so easily?" He pleaded. "You're not even giving our products a chance to fight. They haven't even been in our market for a full week yet. This is just a scare tactic."
"Or is it mercy?" George countered. "I've been studying them, Fred. They've easily crushed all of their competitors in America. They can expertly copy any product that we have and sell it cheaper than us. So why are they even offering us this chance for a partnership? Because they want our reputation and trust within the UK market. But even if we don't give them that, we would still be just a small roadblock on their way to market control. This is a chance for us to at least still have our own identity under them instead of just getting completely wiped out and losing everything in the process."
"So we'll just go back to focusing on our other products," argued Fred. "We're a joke shop. We'll just go back to our roots."
George shook his head solemnly. "Our Wonder Witch products are the only department that has continued to have steady growth in sales for years now. Once our customers are out of school, those are the products that they continue to buy. Not dungbombs and screaming yo-yos. We've come to depend on that. We'd be faltering without it."
Fred paused before turning slightly to look Angelina in the eye behind his twin's shoulder. "I'm guessing you agree with him?"
Angelina held Fred's gaze as she simply slid her arm through her husband's and nodded once in solidarity.
"What about you, Hermione?" Fred whipped his head around to the witch still sitting quietly on the worn leather couch.
She licked her lips nervously, looking back and forth between the brothers but never making full eye contact with either. "This isn't really my place," she muttered.
"No, come on," Fred encouraged. "You've always been one of the smartest people we've known. I trust that you'll give us an honest opinion."
Hermione finally met Fred's stare for a moment. She felt like she could read the flurry of emotions in his face like a picture book. "Do you really want it?" She cautiously asked, giving him one last chance.
"Yes."
She broke their eye contact with a slight sigh. "I've seen the magnitude of Talpin & Minks in America," she began to speak analytically. "If you want a serious chance at competing with them you would have to invest all your time, effort, and resources into it and then some. Including branching out Wonder Witch into its own store and property away from Weasley Wizard Wheezes. They're experts in the beauty and health market and they're already way more experienced at the creation and operating of new branches than you are."
"I actually think this partnership could be a great learning opportunity for you both as businessmen while still profiting off of your products," she explained as she caught Fred's eye again, trying to give him a hopeful spin. "But yes, I agree with George," she informed him truthfully but morosely.
Fred slowly shook his head, no longer able to look at Hermione, as the bitterness grew even quicker than before inside of him. He began to pace for an instant, but quickly turned back to his brother. "Why does it feel like I'm the only person around here that actually wants to fight for our company?" Fred accused. "You used to have the same passion as I did for this place."
"This is me fighting for our company!" George shouted, moving away from Angelina. "Truthfully, this is the only way I see us surviving for another decade," he admitted solemnly.
George hesitated for a moment before slowly approaching Fred. "Remember how we used to say that even if we failed, we'll at least be failing on our own terms?" He wistfully asked. "Now I care so much that I want to see it continue on beyond us as our legacy, not just burnt down in a blaze of glory. I think you're being too proud to see this logically."
"Fred," George sighed as he rested his hand on his twin's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I just can't take the risk this time. I have a family that I have to help support now. It's not just the 2 of us against the world anymore."
"You're right," Fred sneered as he pushed the hand from his shoulder. "You've already been practically one foot out the door running around with Angelina and Percy. So let's just sell the whole damn thing then. Give you all the fucking time with them as you want."
George became rigid as he met his boiling point. "Well at least my family is real," he said piercingly with a gaze over to the curly hair occupant of the couch. "Let's go, Ange," he informed his wife as he crossed the room.
Angelina quietly grabbed her things with a quick saddened look to Hermione and a brushed off glance at Fred before exiting out the front door and down the stairs.
"Have Verity contact me when you're ready to talk about this like businessmen," George grumbled as he took one last look at his twin before slamming the door behind him.
The air in the living room was dense as the echo from the stairs faded into quiet. After a moment, Fred turned to Hermione. "I think you should go too," he whispered, now exhausted from the previous exchange.
"Fred, come on," she gently reasoned as she stood up. "Don't kick me out because you didn't like my answer. You said you wanted my honest advice."
"I know what I said," Fred answered. "I just . . . I need some time to process this by myself."
His whole body was tense, not having moved even a centimeter from where George left him with that remark.
"Okay," she agreed, her tone still soft as she collected her bag to go. She only paused once she reached where Fred stood. "Ginny has Julian tomorrow. I think she should watch him for a while," she informed him.
"Hermione-"
She reached out to adjust the crooked tie, purposely not making eye contact. "I think this needs your whole attention," she muttered as she rested her hands against his chest, eye's still focused on his tie. "We've obviously been much more of a distraction for you than I intended to be."
Fred doesn't argue back. He simply nodded his head once in agreement before Hermione dropped her hands. She only paused once more as she opened the door. Eyes now fully fixed to Fred's.
"Come find us once you've worked this out with George," she said. "We can talk more then."
A/N: Back again! Just a reminder, I'm slow to write but I do plan on finishing this story and there's only one part left! I make you wait, but I hope you feel like I deliver with hefty chapters.
If you enjoyed yourself, please favorite, comment, or even share with a friend! I would love your feedback - what did you love? What did you hate? Don't you also just want to move in with this little family to Forsythia Landing? What was your favorite line? What's your predictions for the last chapter? What would you like to see happen? Can we talk about this massive fight?! Would love to know that you're still here along with me.
Much love,
Felix Felicis With a Twist