Chapter 10

July 9th 1999

Disaster

Stepping out of Fred's fireplace, Hermione emerged into an empty living room and wondered, somewhat hopefully, whether she had got the time or day wrong but she saw the light on in the kitchen which assured her that he was at least home. Looking around, she was struck by how different his home was to hers; she hadn't really taken it in last time she had been here, but his walls were absolutely littered with photos and posters, knick-knacks lined every shelf edge and the lighting was warm. It felt homely and inviting, something she was very much not used to. She leaned down and removed her shoes, placing them neatly next to the fireplace so that they would be ready when it came time for her leave, and was about to slip her wand up her sleeve when she heard a loud crash from the kitchen, followed by loud swearing and she frowned. Lifting her wand and pointing it in the direction of the door that separated the two rooms, she crept forwards and slowly peered around the doorframe. What she saw elicited a sudden laugh that she hadn't heard in a long time as her mouth stretched in a very unfamiliar way. She brought her free hand up to cover her mouth as she surveyed the scene before her.

Fred's kitchen, at least in its current state, reminded her of the hundreds of Christmas cards her parents had received from family, friends and clients every year of her childhood. Every surface as far as she could see was covered in a thick layer of what she assumed to be flour and stood in the middle of the room, like the scene's very own snowman, was Fred. He was also covered head to toe in the white powder and as he spun at the sound of her laughter, a white cloud appeared around him where the flour flew off of him. She couldn't help herself as her lips stretched into an amused grin when his eyes widened, yelping at being caught in such a state.

"Did you cast a bad weather charm?" she asked, a small twinkle in her eye and he gulped, glancing around himself.

"I uh…" he stammered, using his hands to try and dust himself off and groaning when yet more clouds of flour emanated from him, "I thought we said 7:30?"

"No, you said seven." she informed him, dropping her wand arm and sliding her wand up her sleeve before crossing her arms in front of her.

If she had been more aware of herself in that moment, Hermione would have noticed that her nerves and anxiety had all but disappeared when faced with such an amusing and unexpected scene. She found it near impossible to be intimidated by what amounted to a tall ginger snowman, though her heart still raced slightly in his presence. She was self-aware enough to realise that she didn't feel entirely comfortable, but her sense of dread had escaped her upon seeing the chaos that was currently his kitchen. Fred sighed and rolled his eyes, dragging his hand through his hair and coughing slightly as flour fell down and went up his nose.

"Okay fine," he muttered, turning his gaze back to her and shrugging, "we did say seven, but I didn't think this would be that hard…"

She noticed that he looked entirely dejected and gave him a small smile before she pulled her wand back out of her sleeve and cast a charm that, while unable to make all of the mess disappear, at least eradicated the flour and meant she would be able to step foot in the room without leaving footprints. He nodded gratefully, before turning towards the worktop and pointing at the cookbook that was leaning against the backsplash. He glared at it as though he was angry at it for simply existing, before turning back to her with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"I don't suppose…" he trailed off, nudging his head towards the cookbook white looking at her and she rolled her eyes, stepping forward and reaching out for the cookbook before reading the title of what he was trying to make.

"Toad in the hole?" she asked, confused, before lifting her head to look at him with her eyebrow raised and he nodded sheepishly as he shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and rocked back on his heels, "how did you make so much mess making toad in the hole?"

"I think I got a bit too confident with the bag of flour…" he muttered, removing his hands from his pockets and miming the action of ripping a bag open, followed by acting out the explosion that had followed, "and well, you saw what happened next."

"I did," Hermione affirmed, hiding her smile by looking back at the cookbook and reading the instructions, "you were trying to make the batter, I assume?"

"Probably?" he shrugged, leaning closer to her to point at the golden batter that surrounded the sausages in the photo that accompanied the recipe, "that bit, there."

Hermione's back stiffened at the sudden closeness he had gained by leaning over her to point out the batter, making her freeze in place. She could smell his aftershave, a mixture of spices with an almost floral hint, that tickled the hairs inside her nostrils and it mingled with the scent of mint, specifically spearmint toothpaste much like her own. She took a moment to gather herself, gulped down the newly reappeared anxiety and subtly took a step to the side to gain some distance before nodding and placing the book down on the worktop before turning to him.

"Do you have any more flour?" she asked quietly and he swore, shaking his head. Hermione sighed, the corners of her lips tugging upwards slightly, "well then, I guess we're having sausages and mash!"

"I don't have any potatoes." he admitted and her eyebrow rose while she watched him, once again, shove his hands into his pockets and shuffle his feet slightly.

"Fred…" she sighed, shaking her head as she registered her own amusement, "what were you planning to cook with the toad in the hole?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it again as a frown took over his face. As he shook his head, Hermione snorted quietly in amusement. He looked the same as he used to look when his mother had used to tell him off for one thing or another and she couldn't help but smile as what was left of her anxiety left her, at least for now. She was pleased, in a way, that she had walked into such chaos as it meant that he was distracted from seeking information from her or asking questions she wasn't ready to answer. It had been a long time since she had taken control of a situation and this small moment in his company offered her a reminder of the fact that she was capable of doing so. She had grown so used to simply following instructions and not making waves that she had forgotten her own ability to take charge and fix problems, but this small glimpse of that helped to ease her mind and allowed her something to focus on.

"I uh, I guess I didn't really think that far ahead." he gulped and she sighed lightly, turning to look at him with a hint of a smile.

"Obviously," she retorted and he smiled nervously back at her, "how about bread? Do you have bread?"

"Of course I have bread," he snorted, looking almost indignant at the accusation that he might not, "who the hell doesn't have bread?"

She groaned inwardly. She did not have bread. She made a mental note that maybe the time was coming when she may need to at least attempt to restock her cupboards, before raising her eyebrow towards him in question and waiting as he nodded towards the cupboard above the fridge. She swivelled around and pushed herself up on her tiptoes, wincing slightly as her toes ached at the action, before pulling the cupboard open. Half surprised when nothing fell on top of her, instead finding that the cupboard was very neatly organised, she grabbed the bread and pulled it down. She closed the door before placing the bread on the counter and standing with her hands on her hips, feeling proud of her quick thinking and waited for Fred to comment. He was quiet for a while before he smirked suddenly, a twinkle in his eye.

"Sausages and bread?" he asked amusedly and she frowned, feeling disappointed that he didn't quite appreciate her quick thinking as much as she did, "ooh, delicious."

"Sausage sandwiches!" she cried, shocking both of them with her sudden outburst and clearing her throat before continuing much more quietly, "don't tell me you've never had a sausage sandwich?"

"I've had a bacon sandwich." he offered and she groaned, rolling her eyes and lifting her hands to her face.

"It's basically the same thing." she informed and he shook his head.

"Sausages and bacon are not the same, Hermione," he said confidently, crossing his arms in front of him and looking at her as though he was challenging her to defy him, "they're not even in the same tier of food."

"What do you mean?" she asked, cocking her eyebrow and wondering if he'd lost his mind in the last year.

"Well you have sausages," he started, lifting one hand to the level of his elbow and holding it out flat, "and you have bacon," he lifted his other hand way above his head and held it there as he smirked down at her, "I mean sausages are okay, but bacon is… Well, it's bacon."

"So why are you cooking sausages and not bacon?" she challenged, finding his demeanour contagious and herself unable to fight the grin she returned at him.

"You can't put bacon in a toad in the hole!" he said simply, furrowing his brow as though the answer should have been obvious while allowing his hands to drop and folding his arms again.

"You can't cook a toad in the hole if you explode the flour all over the kitchen, either!" she retorted, chuckling quietly when he looked taken aback by her sudden cheek and they fell silent.

This whole interaction felt alien and unusual. She had come into the evening feeling a huge amount of dread and anxiety, having been completely isolated for the last year and however many months, hoping to get through dinner as quickly and as quietly as possible. Yet here she found herself, bickering with one of the Weasley twins in his kitchen over something as simple as one food being better than the other. She registered that she should have been more uncomfortable, more scared. Hell, she had been horrified to be in his presence just four days ago, but this entire bizarre moment between them somehow felt almost normal. She felt almost comfortable, not quite but almost, in his presence and she wondered how this was even possible. She didn't want to focus on it though. She wanted to soak up this moment of normal, not knowing if she would get one again for a long time.

"Touché." he muttered quietly when they had been silent for a while and Hermione shook her head, rolling her eyes.

He watched her carefully as she took control of his kitchen, not even asking permission before proceeding to open and close all of his cupboards in search of a frying pan, putting it on the hob once she had found it before lighting the stove. She didn't ask permission before she yanked open his fridge and pulled out the sausages, either. He marvelled at the sudden, unexpected change in her behaviour and wondered if this was how his family had felt when he'd suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs in the Burrow all those months ago. Had they been as stunned by the sudden shift in him as he was by the shift in her right now? He also recognised that if anyone else had come into his kitchen and started rummaging around in his cupboards he likely would have thrown a fit, even George knew better than to mess up his systems - especially after that first day back in the shop - but somehow he didn't mind too much when it was Hermione doing it. He simply leaned back against his worktop and watched as she worked, smiling gently as he did so. As she passed by him in search of plates, he could smell her body wash and noted that it smelled like strawberries.

When she had plated up their improvised meal, she handed him one and stood back looking quite proud of herself, before picking up her own plate and taking it into the living room and assuming her spot in the furthest corner of the sofa. He did notice that unlike before, when she had sat rigidly and scared, she looked much more relaxed and it made him happy as he followed suit, sat down and they began to eat in silence. As expected, he had long finished his sandwich while Hermione slowly nibbled at hers but he was pleased to see that she managed to eat an entire sausage, albeit very slowly, before she turned to him and smiled shyly. He smiled back, eyes filled with warmth as she turned back to continue eating. While she ate, he stood up and took his own plate into the kitchen, washed it up and returned with two glasses of water. He placed one down in front of her on the coffee table and she nodded her thanks, picking it up and taking a sip.

"You know…" he started, brows furrowed as he contemplated something, "I did think it was weird that a toad in the hole wasn't made with toads…"

Hermione, midway through her sip of water, choked on it as she laughed in reaction. His eyes widened as she fought to catch her breath and he was about to get up and try to help her somehow when she shook her head, turning to look at him with a grin. He chuckled back, the sight of her with a true smile on her face causing him to feel warm inside. She turned her gaze back to her plate, picking off a final piece of bread and putting it into her mouth. In the end, she had eaten two sausages and almost a whole slice of bread. They were silent while she chewed her last bite and she didn't look at him when she spoke next.

"Thank you." she said quietly and he nodded, understanding that she wasn't merely thanking him for the food.