Hermione would not look at him from across the dinner table.
A thin, finely manicured hand was wrapped in a possessive hold on his bicep and Fred could not help but wince at the sharp red of those nails.
He glanced towards the girl he was more than half in love with and felt something n his chest clench when her face remained blank.
George sat next to her, his arm over her chair, showing her one of their new inventions, where the Pygmy Puff was fluttering in the air, trying to maintain its balance. It's round, and furry body, barely the size of Fred's palm, lost its balance against gravity and pummelled down before Hermione caught it.
It curled up in the palm of her hand, clearly exhausted, and rubbed its fur covered cheek against one of her fingers, as she petted it.
George glanced over at his twin and saw the way his other half was staring at the brown haired girl and he could not help but grin.
Carline had invited herself over for the dinner party and Mrs. Weasley had told Fred to pick her up. So, when forced to obey his mother, Fred had unwittingly stood up Hermione, who had showed up later on in the evening, and apologized to Mrs. Weasley, stating a work emergency as an excuse.
And it did look like she had just come from work.
Her eyes had been tired and smudged ink had been evident on her white shirt which was wrinkled. However, there was something different about her. When Carline had made a snide comment about her being stood up, the witch had just blinked, as if she had not been bothered in the slightest. As if, it hadn't sliced at her heart when Fred had so obviously made his choice.
So, this is what it felt like to have her heartbroken, Hermione mused, as she sipped at a glass of red wine, half listening to George talk animatedly about this new experiment he was conducting. God bless his kind heart. He had seen right through her façade and had glued himself to her side for the entire evening.
Carline had changed into a deep cut red dress and her blonde hair had been curled to perfection. The woman was smart. Her cleavage might have been on display, but the length of the dress was long. She knew Mrs. Weasley's preferences and had planned to win over the older woman.
Hermione found a sliver of amusement creep up in her heart. The blonde's smirks towards her might have made her wine taste a little bitter, but Hermione had never ever tried to win Mrs. Weasley over. The matronly woman loved her whole heartedly and had she known what Carline was up to, she would not have tolerated it.
But Carline was the daughter of one of her closest friends. It did surprise her that Fred had shifted his attention away from Hermione, but she didn't understand what was going on. Maybe, her son and Hermione were in the middle of a tiff?
Hermione glanced at the Pygmy Puff, now curled up on her shoulder and from the corner of her eyes, she saw Carline lower her hand into Fred's lap. Something inside of her curled and she felt sick.
Standing up, she smiled at George, "I need some fresh air."
The concern in George's eyes made her stomach twist even more, but that easy smile remained on her lips. She knew how to handle rejection and humiliation. God knows she had handled it most of her life.
The knowing smirk on Carline's lips made Hermione's hand tighten on the wine glass she held and she gently put it down on the table, looking around the table at the faces of her friends who looked worried.
Hermione had never looked this exhausted.
"Is everything okay at work, Hermione?" Harry asked, his arm flung over the back of Ginny's chair, his brow knitted together.
Work. She could use that as an excuse to leave. But she wasn't a coward. She had faced worse people than Carline.
"Some documentation got mixed up in the department. It's going to take a few days of sorting out, but someone in the Treasury department cancelled the funding for the program I'm working on. I might need to get back to that in a while."
This wasn't a lie.
This was a serious issue going on in her department.
Ron grinned at her, "And if you don't work yourself to the bone, you're not going to be you."
Hermione frowned at him, "If you've got son much time on your hands, you two could lend a hand."
Both her best friends immediately looked away and the witch could not help but shake her head in exasperation, "Useless. That's what you are."
Turning around, she starting walking out to the cheerful replies of "We love you too, Hermione."
Fred was uncharacteristically silent as he watched her leave and as soon as she was out the door, everyone's eyes turned to him, and the accusing looks had him feeling guilty. But family affairs were never discussed in front of strangers, and that was what Carline was.
"Oh, thank God, she left. She's so boring. I don't know how you ever tolerated her, Freddy." The whiny voice next to him, complained. Her hand trailed suggestively over his chest and she smiled, her lips red as blood curving in a sultry smile.
"Hey! Hermione is not boring!" Ron growled, offended.
"Yeah!" Harry chimed in, looking equally annoyed.
Mrs. Weasley looked disapprovingly at her friend's daughter, "That's a very rude thing to say, Carline. Hermione is one of the family. And she's a wonderful person."
Carline pouted sulkily at being reprimanded and then fluttered her eyelashes innocently, "Well, if she was so wonderful, Fred would not have stood her up today. After all," She smiled, her fingers unbuttoning the top button of Fred's shirt, "He picked me up at seven today, and not her."
Incredulous eyes turned towards Fred as Mrs. Weasley realized she had just made a huge err in judgement.
However, she did not have the chance to say anything because her son exploded. Pushing back his chair, a scowl on his face, Fred glared at the female who had been trying to drape herself over him, and opened his mouth to say something.
But the emotions inside of him were in turmoil.
He scowled at his mother and muttered, "Excuse me," as he left, following Hermione.
The cold air outside was like a harsh slap to reality and Fred groaned. His mother had been in such an excited panic that her goddaughter finally wanted to attend one of her dinners that she had threatened him into bringing her.
"Hermione will understand." She had assured him. "You just make sure to stick close to Carline's side. She's very shy. And she likes you."
But he liked Hermione and he was very much afraid he had just blown his chances with Hermione. When she had walked in, and her eyes had seen Carline wrapped all around him, he had seen an expression in her eyes that he had never realized would cut him so much. Bitter acceptance and resignation. Hurt. And worst of all, self loathing.
But then, the expression had vanished as she brushed by him without even a greeting, and had moved on to greet everyone.
He had tried to get her alone but Carline wouldn't leave him alone for even a second.
What would she be thinking?
The stricken look in Hermione's eyes had gutted him. And when she had walked out, he had sensed the truth under her half lies.
She didn't want to be humiliated any further.
Oh God, how was he going to fix this now?