Right! So sorry for the long delay between updates, but what with it being Christmas, New Years and then me going and catching a nasty fevery bug thing, you can excuse me, I hope ;) Anyways! People have been a little worried that I may decide to turn this into a Dramione fanfic, NEVER FEAR! Fremione is DEFINITELY my OTP! This will be a strictly Fremione story 3 Anyway enjoy! :) (Btw, I suggest you google what Fred says to the Italians later on, k? I didn't want to translate it in directly, I wanted you guys to find out, cos Idk, it just makes it better) :3
The three climbed out of their taxi outside the small elegant apartment building.
"We're in the medieval-y part of the city," Draco said nodding at the decoration of some of the buildings around them. "Also the student-y area. Apparently it can get loud…"
As if on cue, a group of students sauntered down the road laughing and yelling at each other in Italian. A pretty looking girl in the group, who had probably already had a few drinks that evening spotted Draco and Fred and called out to them.
"Ciao bei ragazzi!"
Draco's ears turned pink and he marched directly to the flats building door, fiddling with some keys.
Fred dissolved into laughter, before shaking his head at them. He made a show of picking Hermione up princess style, then turned and called back to them.
"Mi dispiace, ma io sono già innamorato!"
A odd yet pleasant warm flush grew over her arm but Hermione frowned at the exchange for she couldn't understand a word any of them were saying.
"What did they say? What did you say?" she asked as the group did dramatic actions of heart-break before continuing down the street. Fred chuckled.
"Don't worry. They seemed to like the look of Young Ferret and I!" he smirked, approaching the door where Draco had finally found the right key. The red crept up onto Draco's neck as he pushed the door open and stepped aside to allow Fred to carry Hermione over the threshold. Hermione herself, blushed a little as she realised this simple action was like a muggle marriage tradition.
Fred looked down at her and teased in a sing-song voice "I know what you're thinking of!"
Hermione sniffed and said she had no idea what he was on about.
The interior was beautiful, considering it was just the entrance. Polished stone radiated cool air, which was a relief from the warm Italian temperatures outside.
Draco led them up two short flights of stairs onto the first floor, Fred easily managing to carry Hermione all the way to the flat door.
Draco unlocked the door before disappearing back down the stairs to the taxi to get their things. Fred carried Hermione in and set her down. The elegant and modern looking flat was perfect. A small kitchen unit and living room area were joined into one big room. A patio opened out from the room, through glass doors, to look down into a courtyard that was peaceful and had a sleepy Italian café tucked into a corner of it. There was a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi bath (Fred looked entirely confused at the concept of a water tub that emitted jets of bubbles) and two large bedrooms, one with a double bed, and the other with two single beds.
Hermione began hobbling towards the patio doors, eager to look down at some Italian everyday life when Fred put his arm round her and helped her over.
Looking over the wall, Hermione spied an old couple sipping at small coffee cups and holding each other's hands. She smiled softly and leant into Fred.
"This is a beautiful place," she sighed.
"Mmm, beautiful…" Fred murmured into her hair sleepily, the journey had seemed to tire him.
"Fred…? What's the word for 'beautiful' in Italian?" she asked.
"'Bello'…or 'bella', if I were to be describing a girl like you, those are the masculine and feminine forms! You know how complicated languages are," he smiled.
"Bello…bella…" she played with the word. It sounded like the right word to describe beauty…then she thought of another similar word that was not beautiful at all. Bellatrix. She shivered involuntarily despite the warm evening air. She twisted in Fred's arms to face him. His arms wound tighter around her. Seeing his sleepy, smiling face soothed her. She reached up on tiptoes to kiss him. He obligingly kissed back.
Their lips softly caressed and Hermione's hands fisted in Fred's baggy jumper as they became almost drunk in each other's warm arms. His lips were like nothing she'd felt before, his kiss was so passionate, so warm and gentle and it seemed to reach down to something deep within her. Even her arm muted its consistent ache. She had grown so used to the dull pain that had taken up permanent residence there, that she hadn't realised she'd been in pain until Fred stopped it. As her hand crept up to his hair, she let out a sigh. The soft, silky luminescent hair curled around her fingers and she pulled him deeper into the kiss. He gave a gentle chuckle but didn't pull away.
Suddenly a loud thud came from back inside. They broke apart instantly and the ache grew back in her arm. Rubbing at the light pain, Hermione looked sheepishly at Draco who had dropped the luggage.
"Oops! Did I interrupt anything?" Draco smirked. Fred glared daggers at the blonde man but Hermione just took his hand and they went back indoors.
"I've had enough of this! I can't understand a word they're saying!" Hermione exclaimed exasperated at the Italian chat show on television which she had introduced to Fred and Draco. They had both been staring open mouthed at the large flat screen for the past hour or so. If they had moving photographs, why were they so enthralled with a television screen? She wondered to herself.
"I'm going to bed, I'm feeling tired." She bent down and kissed Fred's forehead. She expected him to barely bat an eyelid, still goggling at the TV, but she was pleasantly surprised when he turned and gave her a short yet exhilarating kiss on the mouth.
Smiling, and a little breathless she turned to Draco. His eyes widened in horror as he declared: "You're not getting one of those from me!"
Laughter bubbled up from inside her and she simply patted his shoulder. The sudden relief of pain she experienced from the brief physical contact staggered her a little and Draco frowned at her.
"You alright there?"
"I'm fine, just tired. Goodnight you two. Don't kill each other alright?" she smiled before padding down the short hallway to brush her teeth and ready herself for bed.
She chuckled a little as she opened the door to her room which had the double bed. The idea of Fred and Draco having to share the room across the hall somehow made her laugh. She hoped neither snored loudly. She was sure they would kill each other if that happened. And that would be a bit of a downer.
Exhausted from the long day and journey, Hermione flopped down onto the bed and almost instantly fell asleep.
Not so long after, Fred and Draco decided that they probably should go to bed too. No point delaying the inevitable.
After they had changed and brushed their teeth, Draco threw himself under the covers of his bed and promptly turned his back on his just as reluctant roommate.
Fred decided to check up on Hermione. He tiptoed across the hall and peeked in. She was sleeping soundly, strewn out across the bed, as if she'd fallen asleep standing and just collapsed onto the mattress. He smiled to himself and went over to her. Fred leant down and placed her into the bed properly before pecking her on the forehead. A small smile appeared on her face and Fred, after smiling stupidly some more, went back to his own room.
Fred couldn't sleep. The noisy students were still shrieking and giggling outside and it was 3am! The warm, sticky Italian air didn't help either. Somehow Draco was sleeping peacefully, and Fred hated him even more for that! He threw the covers off in irritation and decided to go and read something that would tire his mind.
He crept into the living room and found his battered and worn copy of 'Tales of Beedle The Bard' that he always took with him anywhere. It was a little embarrassing, but this was one of the few things that helped Fred get some sleep. Years of his mum reading it to him and George to get them to shut-up and calm down, must have had something to do with it.
Passing Hermione's door he heard something. Pushing the door open, he saw that Hermione was still in bed, but shaking and shivering uncontrollably. How could she be cold in this heat? Fred wondered, walking over to her. Placing his hand on her forehead, he noticed she was burning up. Sweat was clinging to her and she let out small unconscious groans of pain.
Fred burst back into his room and called Draco. He didn't wake. Going over to him, Fred noticed he had ear plugs in. With a loud noise of anger, Fred shook him violently awake. Draco sat up and yanked the ear plugs out, glaring in sleepy anger at Fred
"Ow! What the…? What do you want? I was sleeping you great-"
"Shut-up and come with me!"
"What? You wake me up just to-"
"It's Hermione!"
Draco immediately got up from the bed and followed Fred through to Hermione's room. As soon as he touched her burning forehead, she grew still and peaceful.
"How does that work…?" Draco muttered, sitting down on the bed, now holding the sleeping Hermione's hand.
A muscle jumped in Fred's jaw as he sat on the opposite side of her and held her other hand.
"No idea."
They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Draco asked Fred what the time was.
"It's about quarter-past three in the morning."
"Huh…only 4 hours since we all went to bed…you don't think that when Dr. Ramshaw said not to leave her for more than a few hours he meant…not be more than several feet away?"
"I don't think that's quite it…he said he thought it would probably be much worse than this. We were only in the other room…so the bad effects on her are weaker. I guess she's just generally better and stronger when…" Fred cleared his throat, "when you're nearer to her…" He clenched his free fist, before loosening it with a weary sigh.
Draco gave a yawn before standing up and stretching.
"Well, she's alright now. I'm going back to bed!"
"What? Did you not just hear me? As much as it pains me to say this, you're going to have to stay close to her and not leave her. I don't want her getting any worse…" he brushed a few strands of hair from off of her slightly cooled down face.
"What?! I'm not sitting in a chair all night! I did that at the St. Mungos, and my back is still aching from it!" Draco glared furiously.
Hermione's face screwed up a little in pain and she turned over, starting to shake again.
"Look, calm down! You're angry and it isn't helping her!" Fred whispered, slightly worried at how much Draco and his emotions towards Hermione affected her.
Draco practically growled before marching out of the room and heavily flinging himself back into his own bed, judging by the bed springs' scream of protest Fred could hear.
Hermione started shaking more and Fred, not knowing what else to do, climbed into the bed and held her tight and safe in his arms. Her shaking subdued a little, but still continued nonetheless.
Not so long after, a small noise awoke Fred. Hermione was still shivering, but less so now. He peeked out through his lashes to see Draco standing in the doorway his hands fisting in his hair as if he were thoroughly confused. Giving out a sigh of irritation Draco pinched the bridge of his nose, before letting his hand drop as he approached the bed.
He sat on the edge of the bed, silently, before taking Hermione's hand. Her shaking instantly stopped and it seemed Draco noticed it as he smiled a little to himself.
Draco looked over at Fred, who feigned sleep as best as he could, keeping his deep breathing even and his eyelids barely open hoping that Draco wouldn't see him peeking in the dark room.
Taking a deep breath, Draco settled himself on the bed, lying on Hermione's other side. Fred couldn't help the frown that appeared on his face, but realised that Hermione had immediately cooled down and was now sleeping peacefully and, Fred assumed, painlessly.
If it helped her, he would have to suffer moments like these, Fred thought to himself.
They all slept like that for the remainder of the night. Hermione squeezed in the middle of two men. One who cared deeply for her, the other who wasn't at all sure what he thought of her. Had she been awake, she would surely have smiled at the boys who were unconsciously curled protectively around her in their slumber.
So what do you all think? :D Sorry for any errors, I wrote a lot of this whilst ill :( don't worry though, I'm nearly better :D ;) Keep a weather eye on the horizon for the next chapter :) xxx