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Also extending my thanks to all those who've alerted and favourited!

You guys rock! :-D

Next chapter for all my loyal readers :)

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CHAPTER 37.

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"He did what?" Fred hollered.

"You heard me. He took me to lunch." Hermione said, wincing, expecting this reaction from Fred.

"To Paris!" Fred said, for the 4th time.

"I told you, my initial gut instinct was right." She sighed. "When I started getting uncomfortable around Charlie, I should have known something was wrong."

"I would have never guessed! Charlie? Really? Charlie?" He repeated.

"Yes Fred. Charlie. Okay?" She said exasperatedly. "Why is it so difficult to believe? You fell for me. And he's you're brother. Surely there must be some similarities in preferences."

"No, Mione. It's not that. It's just that, before mum started pushing Charlie, he never behaved this way. And all of a sudden, this excessive show and all. Something doesn't fit." Fred said, scratching his head.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Well, you know how George and I are the pranksters of the lot, see, that way Charlie has always been the rebel. Bill was always the sensible one, but if he ever took to something, he stuck by it. Stubborn git. That's how he finally married Fleur you see. And Charlie would just keep annoying mum by doing the exact opposite of what she wanted him to do. You should have seen mum when he got the dragon tattoo. I thought every vein in her neck and head would pop." Fred said, laughing.

Hermione was also laughing by now. "So what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well, what I'm trying to say is, that I'm sure Charlie didn't pay much attention to you before the lunch mum forced him to sit next to you...I know because I was busy paying you attention, so I would know if anyone was trying to get close to you." He said quickly before she started lamenting on the fact that he thought no one would pay any attention to her.

She smiled at the thought of him being preoccupied with her at that time.

"Again, I don't know what you're building up to." Hermione said impatiently.

"Oh hush. You're rather impatient today aren't you? I would have thought you'd be the kind of person to have a full background story to base your deductions." Fred teased.

"Oh please." She countered. "You'd be impatient too if you had apparated to Paris and back and survived an extremely awkward school tour and lunch thereafter."

"Besides," she said, scooting closer to him on the couch and facing him, almost sitting on him now. "I missed lunch with you, and didn't get to come to the shop. You can't blame me for being impatient now when all you want to do is rant about your sibling characteristics and all I want to do is... Well... This." She said huskily as she pressed herself closer to his torso and tried to melt herself in his embrace.

Fred made a contented noise from his throat and wasted no time in grabbing her closer.

She had starting peppering soft kisses on his neck and he let his head fall back so as to let her have better access.

She went up higher and traced his sturdy, square jaw with the same intensity as before and soon Fred felt as if his entire body was going through a very very pleasant low voltage electric shock.

He buried his hands in her hair; he had divested it from the clutches of her clip and now was running them freely through her locks, massaging her scalp in a way that made her warm all over.

She moaned into the cleft between his ear and jaw and he smiled. He loved hearing these raw, primal sounds coming out from the usually prim and proper Ms. Granger.

She pushed herself even closer to him if it was possible and her knees were now digging into the backrest of the couch because there was no space.

Fred's hands shifted from her hair and roamed her back, up and down in soothing motions.

She completed her trip from his earlobe to jaw and back and nibbled on his lower lip, drawing an almost incoherent word formation from Fred.

He absolutely loved it when she did that. It drove him crazy and he lost all ability to make comprehensible decisions then.

She continued to tease him, slowly and slowly feeling his lip swell in her mouth.

Her hands were doing their rounds in Fred's hair now and he couldn't guess where the waves of pleasure were coming from, the scintillating rotations on his skull or the slow torture she inflicted on his lonesome lip.

Whatever it was, he decided to share some of this pleasure.

He brought his hands up to her shoulders and started kneading them rhythmically, easing all knots that had been formed whilst leaning against him and the couch.

He rubbed her shoulders in smooth, sure, small circles with the tips of his experienced fingers and at the same time he let go of the grip her lips had on his and slowly replaced his fingertip trails with that of his kisses.

Every inch he massaged, he followed it up with hot open kisses until he reached her neck and bestowed the same treatment on her smooth expanse that she had onto him.

He nibbled on her earlobe for a bit longer than usual and she whispered "Merlin!" Into Fred's ears.

"Nope. Try again." He said, heavily breathing.

She laughed. And took his half swollen, waiting lips into hers and they both melted into a world of their own the neither Charlie nor Paris could take them away from.

They parted for some air and breathing heavily, Hermione put her head into Fred's chest and busied herself into hearing his loud, erratic heartbeat under the soft material of his t-shirt.

She smiled at how his heart was pounding into her ears. She felt good knowing that the otherwise steady, strong heartbeat could be accelerated so much by one touch from her.

And it was the same for her where he was concerned. She hadn't felt like this in a long, long time and she doubted she had ever felt so strongly before.

"Impatience suits you very finely, Mione." Fred said, after his breathing had normalised a bit.

She bit his arm in response and he yelped. "Feisty too! Merlin! Remind me to thank Charlie."

"Very funny Frederick." She said, giving him a chaste kiss and smoothing his tousled hair.

She was up in a second and without looking back asked him, "some tea?"

"Hell no! After that, nothing's going to taste half as good." He replied.

She shook her head in resignation and plonked beside him with her mug in hand.

"So you were saying something before we were ... Err... Temporarily distracted." She said.

"I'd make that a permanent distraction if I could, I swear." Fred said.

"Oh for Godric's sake Fred. Stop teasing me. I'll never initiate anything otherwise." Hermione threatened.

"Oh no no no. I'm not teasing you. It's a compliment. You're amazing you know that? And I love you." He said.

"I love you." She repeated as she snuggled closer and placed her feet under her.

"Fred. What if Charlie really likes me?" She asked softly. "I like him and he's your brother. I don't want to hurt him or Mrs. Weasley."

"You won't hurt anyone Mione. That's the thing. I can't just believe that mum pushed him toward you and he actually fell for it. The Charlie I know would fight tooth and nail and actually do everything in his power to oppose mum. And letting mum choose a girl for him? Impossible." Fred said.

"So what are you implying?" She asked again.

"I think there's more to him than what meets the eye. Maybe he's only doing all this to fluster mum, you never know." Fred said.

"I hope so. I'd hate to hurt him." She said worriedly.

"You won't." Fred said determinedly and kissed the top of her head.

"So what's the plan now? Did he leave you alone after lunch or is he making new plans to meet you?" Fred asked.

"Not really. He apparated me back home after lunch and he told me how splendid this date has been. That's when I started to get worried more." She said. "Then I thanked him and he kissed me on the cheek and hugged me and left and said see you at the Burrow sometime."

"Hmmm. So no new date plans?" Fred mused.

She swatted his arm and groaned, "Don't call it that! It was not a date! "

"Sure." Fred laughed.

"So let it be. Consider this as an unusual experience. I've heard Paris can be a great place for lunch. So unless he asks you again, I think we should just let it go." He said.

"I guess. I still have nagging doubts." She furrowed her brow.

"Let me try to dispel them then." Fred said, as he went in to kiss her but started tickling her instead.

She screamed and jumped and soon they were running all around the flat, all thoughts of Charlie forgotten.

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"Hmmm. You know what? I think this mushroom sandwich has got to be the best one in the whole world." Ginny said, chewing wildly.

"You order the same sandwich every single time. Why don't you try something else?" Hermione complained.

"Just. It's not like I have it every day. Only whenever we come here." Ginny replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"I miss Lu. It's our first post work Tuesday lunch without her." Hermione said.

Ginny nodded. "I know. But at least today I get to keep my mushrooms in my sandwich peacefully. Else she would be stealing them under my nose."

Hermione laughed and so did Ginny.

"I miss her too. I'm really glad she's coming back soon and our next lunch will be with her." Ginny said.

"Yeah. I'm amazed though with Ron. I can't believe he chose Africa of all the places for their honeymoon." Hermione said.

Ginny nodded again, swallowing her bite and washing it down with purpleberry ice tea. "And she was so thrilled to top it off. "

"He said she had always wanted to go there, ever since her mother had gone there and come back." Hermione said. "It's nice to finally see Ron taking an active interest in what his girlfriend is saying and storing away information in his memory for future use."

Ginny laughed. "Yeah. I guess he had a lot of growing up to do."

"Tell me about it." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Know what? It's been really long you came over. I'm done for the day and I'm cooking a long 4 course for Harry today. You should come too." Ginny said excitedly.

"What? Sounds tempting Gin. But I don't want to be the third wheel between you and Harry. Besides, this sounds like a romantic couply thing you're doing. Surely, you're not that bored by marriage that you're inviting people over when you cook for him?" Hermione said.

"No. Nothing like that. I promise. We have plenty of time for ourselves. It's just that I want to try out some new recipes and it would be nice to have you over. Usually Ron and Lu would be there too but this time it can be just us. We can all go out again once they're back." Ginny said, looking excited.

Hermione didn't want to decline her friend, especially when she seemed so excited to try out her new recipes.

She smiled and said, "Okay. I'll come over. Do you need me to get something?"

Ginny smiled widely and said, "Just get some coffee, Harry loves that stuff and I still haven't had a chance to go muggle shopping yet."

"Done." Hermione said.

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Later in the day, Ginny owled Charlie a letter that said,

Charlie,
Dinner at my place tonight at 8.
Hermione is going to be there too.
Don't be late.
And don't tell anyone.
See you.
Chuckles,
Gin.

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And we thought she was being sweet.

Poor Hermione!

Handling dinner with Charlie and Ginny!

Thank you all for reading and reviewing!

I really appreciate the feedback!

i would also like to say for my future readers, who would be reading this, even if this fic is complete, i would greatly appreciate reviews and feedback from you all.

i always love hearing from my readers and it makes me write better!

Mwah!

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