I walked back to the camp quickly, avoiding as many twigs as I could. I still came back with sore feet though. This time it was my turn to surprise Fred. He was sitting on a log facing the fire, his back to me. "Fred?" I whispered in the dark, stepping closer to the camp site. He started before turning towards me. I could barely make out his face, but I could tell one thing for sure, his jaw had fallen open. A blush lit my cheeks and I lowered my eyes before moving to sit next to him by the fire.
"Merlin Hermione, how'd you ever manage to hide that body in your robes? You're beautiful." He whispered, wrapping his arm around me and scooting closer. I shivered against him, and not from the cold. He grabbed our third blanket off his lap and wrapped it around our shoulders.
"Thanks Fred, but I'm not that pretty. You don't have to feel obliged to tell me that I'm pretty." I really wasn't, especially not now, Merlin not now.
"Have you looked at yourself?" he asked, his eyes widening in shock. "God 'Mione, you're gorgeous." The way he said, it so earnestly and heartfelt made me want to believe him. I didn't have a bad figure, I was actually rather curvy, but my face was rather plain. I wasn't as stunning as Ginny, or Luna, or Verity. With the bruises and cuts I was extremely plain and borderline scary.
He placed a hand on my cheek, tracing my jaw line gently with his fingers. I turned my eyes back to him, turning away from the fire and facing him. He leaned closer to me, staring into my eyes with his sapphire ones. His finger moved from my jaw to my still damp hair, burying his hand in my curls. I leaned forward, my eyes closing as he pressed his lip against mine. I brought my hands up his bare back, earning myself a faint moan as I lightly dragged my nails up his back. His hands traveled up and down my sides before settling on my lower waist. We broke the kiss, breathing deeply before kissing again.
I pressed as closely against him as I could, wanting to lose myself in his hold. I didn't care that I was only wearing a blanket, or that I was in the middle of some forest. I only cared about getting closer to Fred. I'd never felt this way about someone, this strong a need to be near someone. I had liked Ron, well, I had thought I like Ron, but we'd decided to just be friends. I hadn't dated since we broke up last year, I'd not had the time. I was extremely glad now that I was single, I wanted nothing more than to date him. I'd have never predicted it, but I had fallen for the crazy prankster.
He moved his lips from my mouth, I was having trouble breathing because of my ribs. He moved to my neck, kissing, licking, and nipping the skin there, causing me to gasp and throw my head back. So he could have better access. My hands found their way to his hair, tangling themselves in the shaggy, damp locks. I tugged his hair, bringing his mouth back up to my own and kissing him hard. His hand moved back up my body, traveling lightly against my chest. But not lightly enough, I hissed in pain as he brushed against my ribs, and he pulled back sharply, looking thoroughly alarmed.
"I'm so sorry!" He gasped. I shook my head, leaning into him and trying to regain my breath. That was the first thing I was curing when I got a wand, or someone with a wand. I was going to get my breath back.
"Don't be," I breathed out, "I'm not." I leaned back, staring into his eyes and smiling shyly. "I guess the clothes are probably dry by now." He nodded his head slowly.
"I'll go first." He said. He grabbed his clothes off the branch and walked behind some bushes. I could still see him, chest up, and I couldn't move my eyes off of him. He pulled his sweater on, pulling it down and blocking his beautiful chest from my view. I managed to avert my eyes a moment before he turned back to me.
"Your turn, Hermione." He called, stepping back towards the fire. I stood, holding my blanket in place and grabbing my clothes. I stepped back to the same place that he had changed and dropped my towel. I bent down and pulled my underwear on and then my jeans before straightening back up. I heard a noise behind me and almost froze. Fred could see me, I had forgotten that. A blush lit my cheeks and I was instantly grateful that he couldn't see my face. I reached over and grabbed my t-shirt, pulling it over my head before putting my sweater on too. I turned back around, picking my way through the foliage and back to Fred. He'd already laid the blanket down and put out the fire.
I lay down by him, on my side so I could face him. He was laying on his side, propping himself up with his arm so he could look at me. His broken arm was lying over his chest, and the sight of it made my heart clench.
"Ready for bed?" He asked quietly before wrinkling his brow in worry. "Hermione, what's wrong?" I shook my head, willing those blasted tears to leave my eyes.
"No-nothing, Fred, honest." He stared at me for a moment before slowly nodding his head.
"Okay, I'll accept that for now. Come on, we need to go to bed." He said as he lay down on his back. I moved to my spot by his side and pulled the blankets up around our bodies.
I once again fell asleep warm and secure.
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"So, favorite poems?" He asked as we walked along the ditch. We'd had to leave the cover of the forest this morning, I needed to figure out where we were actually at. We decided to travel along the side of the road instead of actually on it. We didn't want anyone recognizing our descriptions and trying to arrest us. Instead of continuing our truth or dare game from yesterday he'd decided to try something of his own invention. We'd ask each other what one our favorite things were, but it had to be alphabetical order. I had just asked him what his favorite Order mission had been, so it was his turn now with P.
"Poem huh?" I asked, stumbling a bit before righting myself with Fred's help. "Lord Byron's 'She walks in Beauty.' I thinks it's beautiful and hauntingly elegant." Plus, it was one of the only ones I remembered all of. I took a breath and realized I had Q. Quidditch was the obvious question, but I wanted something more fun. "My turn now, what is your favorite quality in a girl?" I asked slyly, smiling and keeping my eyes firmly locked ahead.
"Quality?" he asked. He gave a little, thoughtful 'hmm' before answering. "A sense of humor or common sense. I can't stand it when a girl acts stupid to impress a bloke, or laughs at all his jokes, even when they're not funny. I want someone who will laugh when it is funny, but not when I'm not."
"Really? Neat, I thought it would have been something different." I said mysteriously. I honestly thought it would be some body part.
"See, I'm full of surprises. What was your favorite reason people would give for being out late in Gryffindor?" That caused a smile to light up my face. I'd heard hundreds of excuses while I was at Hogwarts, and almost all of them were funny.
"This crazy red-head once told me that he had been letting every single owl out of the owlery." I explained, keeping my face deadpan. "I'd laughed it off, thinking he was joking. I woke up the next day to find every single owl from the owlery in the Gryffindor common room. I still have no idea how he did it."
Fred let out a loud laugh, care free and bright. His head fell back a little and his eye clenched as he laughed even harder. We stopped walking and both started laughing, I couldn't stop, even though it hurt to laugh with my ribs.
"Really? That was your favorite?" He asked, finally regaining his voice. I nodded my head, beaming at his excitement. "I never knew you liked that, you were ticked the next morning."
"Well of course I was. I was a prefect, I couldn't act like I loved your prank. I had to pretend I was furious."
"Wow, who knew, all this time Hermione Granger liked my pranks."
"That one was great. How did you get all those birds in there under my nose?" I asked, trying not to smile too much. He grinned even wider.
"Nu-uh. I'm not telling. That was one of my favorite pranks. Who knows, I might need to use it again someday." I rolled my eyes and gave him a gentle shove on the shoulder.
"Meanie! Fine, but I'll figure out how one of these days. What's your favorite Season?"
"Fall." He said quickly. "I love how everything gets so colorful. Not just green, white, and pink, like spring, but yellow, red, and orange." He explained animatedly. "What's your favorite time of day?"
"Early morning." I answered with a smile. "No one else I know really like to get up early. Ron and Harry always sleep till noon, and Ginny's right with them. Remember all those summers at the Burrow?" I asked reminiscently. He nodded his head with a smile. "We were always the only ones up. You and George would go out for a fly and I'd be reading my book under that tree."
"God I miss those days." He said quietly.
"You mean you don't like walking along an endless road with a stick?" I asked in mock shock.
"No, this is a blast." He said, laughing.
"Okay, umm… Favorite use for Unicorn hair?" I asked, trying to think of some U. Fred grinned and looked at me.
"Have trouble with that one, did you?"
"A little." I admitted, giggling at how silly it was.
"Well, at the moment it would be their ability to bind wounds. We could use a few kilometers of it." He finished wryly, looking at his arm in annoyance. "Okay, my turn. Favorite vegetable."
"Vegetable?" I asked, thinking for a moment. "Mushrooms, I love mushrooms, though it's not really a vegetable."
"I'll take it though."
"Favorite Weather?" I asked before I heard something coming along the road. I turned towards Fred with wide eyes, stopping him with my hand.
"What?" He asked before stopping, he heard the engine too.
"Oh god." I gasped, stepping away from the road. Fred was right beside me, his eyes wide and worried. We stumbled away from the road heading towards the woods again. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to leave them in the first place. At least I knew where we were now. We dived for the cover of the woods, tripping into the trees. I looked back over my shoulder just in time to see a police car race by. Merlin, that was far too close.
"Rain, it's my favorite." Fred said suddenly, breaking the shocked silence. I turned towards him and stared for a minute before I realized he was continuing our conversation from earlier. I giggled, immensely happy to have him with me.
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"I'll do the dishes." Fred said as we finished our fish. I laughed again, I'd been doing a lot of that recently. We'd managed to walk another fifteen miles today. We only had twenty six left till we reached London, twenty eight until we reached Diagon Alley. This observation, plus the fact that we'd had fish for supper had put us both in a very good mood. He grabbed the stick I had cooked, and eaten my fish on and threw it into the fire. "See, all done!" He said, standing up and wiping his hand off on his jeans. I laughed as I wiped my own hands off, shaking my head as he grinned.
"Okay." He said looking down at me with his signature smile. "It's time for your after dinner entertainment." He offered me his hand, which I took. He pulled me up while I questioned him.
"My after dinner entertainment?"
"Yes." He said, grabbing my hand and pulling me closer to his body. He started to hum an extremely familiar tune. 'I want to hold your hand' by the Beetles. I smiled, more happy than I'd been in a while and danced with him, stepping to the beat and ignoring my foot. He spun me in a silly dance as he started to sing the words. I joined him, and we butchered the song together, laughing and holding each other close.
A/N: Thank you Bellaroe for finding out about the Apparation question. You can't apparate without a wand, so my story is safe! Yippee! By the way, thanks for all the reviews, I'm having a lot of fun with this story.