My body complained with every step, screaming for me to sit down and find some water to take a hot, long bath in. I would have loved nothing more than to comply to its request, unfortunately, we were fresh out of chairs and warm water.
"Can you read Muggle maps?" Fred asked me after we had been walking for about ten minutes. I nodded my head and took the map out of his hands. I opened it up and studied it for a moment, smiling in appreciation when I saw a little red circle marked 'you started here.' That muggle had really taken care of us. She'd gone out of her way to help us and it would probably be thing that would save us.
"Okay," I said, reading the map. "According to this, we're right outside of Northampton." I looked up from the map and caught Fred's wide, surprised eyes. "Roughly sixty miles from London."
"With no means of apparating." Fred said darkly, glaring at the map like it was its fault we had to travel so far.
"Well, on the bright side, at least we know where we are." Fred raised his eyebrow at my comment and shook his head, a slight grin lifting his lip. I'll admit, it wasn't much of a bright side, especially since we were so injured.
"Yeah, right." He said, walking again. I was right beside him. We traveled quietly for a while, picking our way through the trees and foliage. The sticks were of immense help, it was so nice to be able to lean on something.
"Okay, I'm not going to be able to handle it being so quiet." Fred said tensely, breaking the silence. "We're going to have to think of something to talk about. I don't care if we recite poetry or play a game, I just need something."
"Well, since I've already told you all the poems I know, and I doubt you know any I haven't already read, how about we play a game?" I asked, stepping over a tree root carefully.
"Great," Fred said in relief. "Whatcha wanna play?"
"No idea, I'll let you decide." I replied.
"Okay, how about truth or dare?" He asked, holding a branch back for me. I ducked under it gratefully, chuckling at his suggestion.
"What'll we dare each other? We're in the middle of the forest."
"Future dares, for when we return to civilization." He replied, smiling easily and looking like it was the most obvious answer in the world.
"Okay, truth or dare it is. You can go first since it was your suggestion." I said.
"Great," Fred, said, an evil grin forming on his handsome face. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth." Was my instant reply.
"Figured," he said, smirking . I stuck my tongue out at him. "First crush?"
A blush lit up my cheeks and I lowered my eyes before mumbling the answer. "Gilderoy Lockhart."
"Excuse me?" Fred asked, his voice practically bubbling with mirth. "Did you just say Gilderoy?"
"Yes." I said irritably. "He was extremely handsome and seemed like he was brilliant. Obviously I know now he wasn't. Still, to a twelve year old girl he was incredible. Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Really? Okay, what habit of George's do you find most annoying?" I asked on a whim. His eyebrows raised and he looked impressed.
"Toughie…" He mumbled, scrunching his face up in thought. "His nails, he's always clicking them together when he's bored." He said after a moment, a faint grin lighting his lips before fading. He looked sad and wistful. "Man I miss him. We haven't been apart this long since before I can remember."
"Good thing we're headed back to them then, isn't it." I said softly, laying a hand on his shoulder. He smiled gratefully before questioning me.
"Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Favorite song?"
"Used to be I want to hold your hand by the Beatles, but it's changed to O Children by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds." I answered instantly. I continued, explaining why when he tilted his head curiously. "I first heard it during the Horcrux hunt. Harry made me dance with him during it, and anytime he hears it on now, he always asks me to dance. He has no idea how much he cheered me up with that." I said, speaking quietly at the end. I missed Harry terribly; he was my best friend, sort of like my George.
"Truth or dare?" I asked, regaining my thoughts and going back to the game.
"Dare." Fred said with an evil grin.
"You have to prank your mum while she's making dinner for company." I said quickly, and evil grin lifting my lips.
"Wow, that was cold and quick." He said, his eyebrows rising with surprise. "Okay, I accept the dare and the challenge. It'll be fun. I hardly ever get a chance to run for my life. Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Okay, um, Charms or Transfiguration?"
"Transfiguration. I love it, and it's crazy useful. Truth or dare."
"Truth."
"First prank?"
A huge smile lifted his lips and he let out a loud laugh. "We pranked Percy. George and I put a gnome in his drawer. I think we were one and a half."
"Wow!" I laughed, I'd known they'd always been trouble makers but I'd never have thought they'd have started so young.
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare." I said bravely. He grinned wickedly and glanced at me over his shoulder. "You have to go skinny dipping at the lake behind the Burrow." He stopped and turned towards me.
"Wh-what? " I spluttered, turning bright red and stopping dead in my track. He let out a loud laugh and practically glowed with excitement. "Skinny dipping at the Burrow?" I squeaked, gaping at him.
"Yep." Fred said, stepping closer to me and smiling devilishly. He let his eyes trail down my body and back up before looking me in the eyes. I was redder than the crimson of Gryffindor by now. "And I can't wait till we get back."
"Fine," I spluttered, taken aback and oddly flattered. I was embarrassed beyond belief at the idea of jumping naked into the Burrows lake, but the fact that Fred wanted to see me jump into the Burrow lake naked was thrilling. I wasn't extremely pretty, at least not by his usual taste. I was short and curvy, he usually dated tall athletic girls.
"Truth or dare?" I whispered, having trouble thinking with him so close.
"Truth." He answered, stepping even closer to me. I swallowed nervously before asking my next question, it was decidedly more personal, but I was curious and worried. However, having him so close to me made me almost consider not asking it.
"Did you like the kiss?" I whispered, so quietly I wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't hear it. He stopped leaning nearer me and straightened up, a surprised look on his handsome face. His eyes were wide and he looked alarmed.
"Yes, did you not?" I smiled happily in utter relief and stepped closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck gently so that I didn't hurt his cut.
"Oh, I enjoyed it. Quite a lot actually." His face relaxed and he gave me a wide cocky grin that I hadn't seen since we were kidnapped as his eyes shot to my lips hungrily.
"Would you mind a repeat?" He asked, his voice deeper and huskier than it had been. I shook my head, leaning closer to him. He tilted his head and closed the distance between our faces, claiming my lips in a searing kiss. He brought his arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his warm body and I pressed myself against him, losing myself in the feel of his body and lips. I'd had kisses before, quite a few actually, but none of them even compared to Fred, he was knee meltingly good at snogging.
We broke apart a minute later, gasping for breath and clinging onto one another. I hated being so weak, it was terrible. He brought his hand up to my cheek, and wrapped his other around my waist, pulling me flush against him.
"Hermione," He murmured, nuzzling his noise in my curls. "I really like you, a lot." He said, pulling back a slight bit and whispering in my ear. "I'd like to date you, and not just while we're out here. I've loved getting to know you better, and I don't want that to change when we get back to the others."
"I don't either." I breathed, shivering at the feel of his breath on my neck. "I like you a lot too, and I'd love to date you." He leaned back, looking me in the eyes and smiling softly.
"Then the day after we get back, we have a date."
"Sounds great." I whispered back, holding his hand. "Where should we go?" I asked as we turned back and stated walking again. He didn't let go of my hand, he tucked his stick under his arm so we could keep holding each other's hand.
"I don't know, somewhere with technology, warm food, and butterbeer."
"Sounds good, what's the first thing you're doing once you get back to London?" I asked, swinging our hands as we walked.
"I am taking a long hot shower, and then I'm eating a gallon of ice cream. What about you?"
"Definitely grooving on the shower, but I think I'd rather have a cup of hot cocoa. Ooh, and a good book."
"You know, we won't get too do either of those for probably a week." He said nonchalantly as we ducked under a low hanging tree limb.
"Why?"
"We're going to be surrounded by Weasley's." He said simply. "We'll be lucky to see the light of day." I laughed at that, picturing a wall of red-heads and one raven following us everywhere we went. Merlin, I missed them all so much.
"Well, at least we'll have each other."
"And magic, Merlin, we'll have magic again!"
"Wands!" I gasped, fighting the urge to jump. "We can heal ourselves, god, that will be so nice."
"Yeah, I'm changing my earlier comment, that's the first thing I'll be doing." Fred said, a huge grin lighting his face.
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We kept walking all day, stopping for breaks and to eat. We walked about fourteen miles, which really impressed me with how injured we both were. We finally decided to stop for the night in a little clearing by a creek. I refilled our water bottles while Fred caught some fish. We started a small fire, thanking god that we knew how to do it the muggle way. It was quite good, better than what we'd had on the Horcrux hunt, or maybe it was just that I was happier.
"Okay, this is the perfect time for a bath." Fred said, pushing himself up from where he had been lying in front of a log. "We have a creek, and a fire. What's say we have a quick bath and wash our clothes? It's warmer tonight than it was last night." I stared at him for a moment, thinking about his suggestion. A bath sounded wonderful and clean clothes delightful, but I was nervous about bathing in front of, or near Fred. The bath won out in the end, I needed to be clean.
Fred went first, claiming he'd make sure it was safe. I tended to the fire and washed the clothes off while he bathed up the creek. We'd use the blankets to keep ourselves covered and warm while we waited for our clothes to dry by the fire. I hung them up on a branch above the fire to dry. I draped my blanket around my shoulders, holding it close and making sure I wasn't showing any skin.
"Mione?" I looked up from the fire I'd been poking with a stick and had to stop myself from staring. He only had the towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes traveled down his toned chest and I had to fight back an appreciative sigh. "Mione?" He said again, trying not to laugh. I blushed and stood, wrapping my blanket around my body more tightly. I nearly ran to the lake, tripping on my stupid ankle in my attempt to get away. I dipped into the water, gasping at how cold it was before rubbing myself clean. I washed my hair out and nearly cried with relief, it was so nice to have clean hair again. I grabbed my blanket back and wrapped it around my body tightly, shivering in the night air. Hopefully those clothes would be dry soon. In the mean time, I'd just keep myself warm by snuggling close to Fred.
I rather liked the idea.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, about the whole apparition thing, I'm not actually sure if you can do it wandless... but for the purpose of this story we're going to pretend they don't :o)