The summer had come and gone quickly. Hermione had spent most of it with her parents, only showing up at the burrow two weeks before the term started. She hadn't meant to do it to avoid Fred, but as the summer progressed, she had stopped thinking of him as often, and now she was sure she could be around him without becoming angry.

Fred had went to grab lunch for George and himself, when he caught sight of his little sister in Flourish and Blott's. He grinned and ducked into the shop, searching for her. He turned into the aisle she had been in when he spotted her, and grabbed the girl standing there.

She shrieked and and quickly pulled her wand out of her robes, shoving it into Fred's throat. Fred paled as his eyes darted between his sister, and the girl he had thought was his sister. Ginny stood a few feet away laughing at Hermione, who had yet to pull her wand away. He swallowed dryly.

"Mione! I swear, I thought you were Ginny!" He raised his hands in the air, as a muggle would under arrest, and slowly began backing away from her.

Hermione shoved her wand back into her pocket, but continued glaring at him.

"Hermione, calm down." Ginny said, still laughing. "He didn't mean to scare you, you heard him."

Hermione turned and stomped away from them. It appeared she had been wrong, just the sight of Fred made her want to hex him into next week.

Ginny sighed, "Don't take it personal, she's been like this since she arrived at the burrow." She said rolling her eyes. "You should probably apologize though, or else she'll be in a foul mood all day." Ginny nudged him in the direction Hermione had went, before returning to browse the shelf in front of her.

Fred shoved his hands into his pockets, and went after her.

She was leaning against a shelf in secluded corner of the shop, with her eyes closed, and her fists clenched. He hadn't meant to startle her that badly, he hadn't meant to scare her at all actually.

"Mione?" He said softly.

Her eyes shot open at the sound of his voice. "Fred." Her voice was flat.

"I'm sorry." He shuffled his feet, coming closer to her. "Not just for scaring you either,"

She raised her eyebrows, "Oh?"

He nodded. "I should have told you we were leaving."

Well, she thought, Weasleys are never ones to beat around the bush, now are they?

She stared at him, but didn't respond.

He sighed and ran his hand through his now short hair. "I can't get it out of my head, they way you looked the night I left. I should have let you know, should have said goodbye. I'm sorry."

She stood up straight then, Hermione Granger took pity from no one. "And why would you have done that?" She said sharply. "You kissed me once, Fred. We aren't a couple, no need to apologise to me." She tried to push past him, but his hand wrapped around her wrist, keeping her there.

"And if I want us to be? A couple I mean." His blue eyes hid slightly behind his lashes, and his voice was low.

Hermione's breath caught. She had not expected that. "Oh!" She was speechless, a rare occurrence for her.

Fred moved closer to her. "Let me take you out to one dinner. If you never want to speak to me after that, then so be it. Just give me one chance though, that's all I'm asking."

Hermione nodded curtly, then moved past him. She turned, "Tonight as seven then. I'll meet you outside of your shop."

Fred grinned, and nodded wildly as she shook her head and walked out of the shop.

It was 7:05 and Fred was worried Hermione had stood him up. He was standing outside the shop bouncing on the heels of his feet. He was dressed in muggle clothes, a nice shirt and dark denim jeans. George had questioned him about it, but Fred had just said he had a date with a muggle born, not specifying who she was, just incase it ended badly.

Hermione, it seemed, was running a bit late. It wasn't as if she could apparate yet, and there wasn't a floo connected to their shop. She jogged up to where Fred was waiting, already ten minutes late.

"Sorry," She said, pushing her hair behind her ear. "Took a little longer sneaking out than I had thought."

Fred's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "You snuck out of the burrow?' He said in awe.

She looked at him strangely. "Of course. I couldn't exactly tell Molly I was going out with her son tonight, now could I? She'd have our wedding planned before I returned home." Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Now, where are we off to?"

Fred smiled and hooked his arm with hers. "Ready for side-along?" She looked at him apprehensively. "I'm not going to splinch you!" He exclaimed.

She smiled nervously, and nodded. "Alright then, lets go." She felt the rough pull begin in her belly, then her entire body felt as if it were being squeezed tightly, before being stretched back out.

She swayed slightly as she opened her eyes, now in a dark alley behind a muggle restaurant.

"Alright there, love?" Fred said.

She nodded as they walked to the front of the building. "I love this place! They have the best pasta here!" He laughed and wrapped his arm around her.

"I like muggle food. It's way different, especially muggle Italian. Bloody delicious!"

Hermione nodded and walked with him into the restaurant. "I used to eat here when I was little."

"Me too! My Aunt Lizzy used to bring us all here, but that was along time ago." He said as he pulled out her chair for her.

She sat down. "Why did she stop?" Hermione asked conversationally.

"She died shortly after the first wizarding war, before they caught all the Death Eaters. One of them broke into her house and waited for her to come home." He shuddered at the memory. "She was Dad's sister, but it wasn't very long after Uncle Gideon, and Uncle Fabian had passed. It was a rough year for us." Hermione immediately regretted asking.

"Oh, I had no idea. Ron never said anything..."

Fred shook his head. "He was so little when it happened, he probably doesn't even remember. Dad was pretty upset, but he tried to hide it, so he wouldn't upset us kids. I remember though, the way he stiffened when he received the owl about it, the way Mum's face had paled as she read over his shoulder..." Fred's eyes snapped back into focus, and he grinned lightly. "Do you know what you'd like?"

Hermione picked a random item on the menu, and tried to process what he had just said. She vaguely remember hearing about an Elizabeth Weasley in a history book about the war, but she had never connected it. It was a common wizarding last name... The book had said she had suffered greatly...

"So, how was your summer?" He asked pulling her from her thoughts. She smiled weakly, and responded. They made light conversation through the rest of the meal.

It hadn't been a terrible date, Hermione had to admit. She wasn't sure what she had expected from Fred, but it hadn't been this. She had actually had a lovely time, and found herself disappointed when the date was nearing its end.

He had apparated them outside the gate leading the burrow, and was still standing extremely close to her.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did." He said quietly.

She nodded and smiled at him. "I did actually. Thank you." He was staring down at her intensely. He raised his hand, and let the back of his fingers graze the side of her face, before cupping her cheek. He leaned down slowly, giving her time to back away, before planting his lips upon hers.

"I hope you'll let me take you out again." He said as they broke away.

She grinned and backed away slightly. "We'll see."

His eyes widened. "What?"

She shrugged, noncommittally. "We'll see." She turned and jogged up the path to his former house, waved from the doorway, then disappeared into the burrow.

Fred frowned as he apparated back to his flat. He was definitely glad he hadn't told George whom he had went out with. He would never hear the end of it if George knew Granger had left him standing there like that.