CHAPTER 10

Pairing: Fred W/Hermione G

Rating: K+

DISCLAIMER: Only the plot is mine. J

A/N: SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! I had to write like a billion essays and submit them, and then I just opened this document to finish this chapter, and saw that the entire chapter 10 that I had started was literally GONE. Like, literally GONE. My computer had to be hard-booted recently, and I think I lost it there – AAAHHH I FORGOT TO SAVE. *self-slap* so anyways, sorry about that…. Here we go!

Last time on "A Place to Say and a Heart to Love":

The sound of the bell above the door jerked her out of her thoughts, and alerted her to another customer. Seeing Fred busy with someone already, Hermione sighed, and went to help the next customer.

The first thing she saw was a pair of shoes, brown, heavy, and with many scuff marks. Her eyes traveled upwards at a rapid pace, landing on the face of the customer.

Her heart stopped, her head began to pound, and a rushing noise filled her ears. She was paralyzed in her spot, unable to move, to do anything.

"Michael."

Present:

"Michael."

The whisper barely reached the ears of Michael Levski. Eyes raking from top to bottom of the woman in front of him, he froze at the sound of the whisper. Her voice.

His lips raised into a satanic smile. He took a step towards her, his boots thumping against the ground. She whimpered, and stepped back.

His smile grew wider.

Just as he reached for his wand, another man came around the corner. A shock of red hair fell in disarray across this man's head, clashing horribly with the man's magenta robes.

Michael stopped his movements, letting the scene play out. He had never seen this man before.

"Hermione, what are you doing? Welcome the customer in," the man exclaimed. Looking at Michael, the man's face broke out into a mischievous grin. "Hello, and welcome to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. My name is Fred; I am the fantastical proprietor of this fine establishment. What mischief may I help you with today?"

Michael snorted in amusement at the spiel, before sobering when he saw how close the red-head stood next to his wife. His wife. His property. Michael fought the urge to growl, and forced a smile.

"I'm sure your employee would be more than willing to show me to my purchases. If I may…?" Michael gave the red-head a winning smile. The red-head surveyed Michael with shrewd eyes, stepping closer towards Hermione protectively. Michael's anger grew, and he fought to gain control of himself before anything bad happened.

Fred looked at the man in front of him suspiciously. Hermione had yet to speak, and Fred was getting more and more worried about her. He raked his eyes up and down the man in front of him, assessing the danger of this man, and letting Hermione go with him.

Before he could do anything, however, a small bullet in the form of Rose Granger flew around the corner, and skidded to a stop in front of the customer.

The man looked down at the child, and sneered. Fred was taken aback at the cold greeting the man gave to Rose. He opened his mouth to object, when a small voice cut him off.

"No! You bad man, daddy! You go 'way! Go 'way now! You no huwt mommy no mow!" Rose's voice grew shriller the angrier she got.

Understanding at Rose's words dawned on Fred. Anger rose within him like bile, and he pulled out his wand.

"So you're Michael Levski, are you?" Sparks shot out of Fred's wand, leaving singe-marks on the nearby shelves. He stepped forwards toward Michael, a decidedly evil smirk marring his face. A second later, another body shifted beside him, and Fred didn't have to look to know George was standing beside him, wand out and a similar smirk on his face.

Faced with two men – twins, no less – who were bigger and burlier than him, Michael felt more than a little intimidated. Seeing his wife, though, a feeling of possessiveness arose within him, and the urge to make her fall to his feet once more overtook his fear of the men before him.

"What of it?" he asked, pulling his wand out as well. Before he could even speak an incantation, the twins had him disarmed and in a full body-bind on the floor.

Crouching near his face, Fred leaned down to whisper in Michael's ear.

"You will stay away from our Hermione. You will not hurt her, and you will never again set foot in this store." George nodded in agreement, and added his two cents in as well.

"One toe out of line, Levski, and you will regret the day you were brought into this world." With that, both twins rose to their feet. Hooking their arms under Michael's armpits, they dragged him out into the street, away from Rose, Hugo, and Hermione.

George reached for his wand to reverse the curses.

"George! Wait." Fred held out a hand to stop his brother. George looked at his twin confused.

"What, Fred?" Fred just smirked at George, before pulling his leg back, and swinging it forward into Michael's side. George, seeing what his brother was doing, copied the movements on the other side.

"A kick for good luck, Georgie." George nodded. Stepping back, he pulled out his wand, and reversed the curses on Michael.

The twins took one last look at Michael, and went back inside the shop, flipping the "Closed" Sign on the way in.

Fred sighed to himself as he saw Hermione, still frozen in her spot. He had some damage control to do.

A/N: HEY GUYS I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPLOADING SOONER HATE ME ALL YOU WANT. I had super awful writers block, and so to get over it, I wrote a Sherlock ficlet, and then posted that (so go check it out if you like that stuff!)… And now here's this chapter! I'm not fond of it at all. Like, I hate it. It's also really short. SO. Don't be afraid to tell me if you hate it. If you think I need to revise it, let me know! Thanks!