"Are you nearly ready?" Luna called to Ginny from outside her changing cubicle. Ginny pulled open the curtain in favor of response, The Dress of Despair draped over her arm with the evil little tea hat perched sadly atop it.
"Thanks," she smiled as Luna took the dress for her and placed it on the rack for store attendants to put back on display later.
"Let's pay and get back to Hermione. She still needs to pick up some pants, and maybe stopping at the bookstore will perk her up a bit."
"For the last time," Ginny half glared, "I'm not letting you pay for this monstrosity."
"I was just as responsible as you were," Luna pointed out.
"Not happening. Come on, we should save Hermione from my brothers," Ginny changed the subject. She was near to the door before realizing that Luna hadn't moved. "What?"
"Are you sure?"
"I'm not taking your bloody money, Luna. I make more than enough to cover it," Ginny snapped. She quickly realized how rude she sounded and opened her mouth to stumble through an awkward apology.
"No, not that," Luna fluttered a hand, clearly less than concerned by the outburst. "I mean about saving Hermione."
"Why, what'd you see?" Ginny asked immediately for there was no doubt that Luna had seen something. She was far more clever than she let on. And Ginny hadn't forgotten for a moment what she saw during lunch. She returned to Luna's side, eager to hear what she'd missed.
"May I?" Fred held out a bent arm to Hermione, not meeting her eye as they made their way down the road. He felt the tips of his ears heat and prayed they weren't as red as they felt. 'Real smooth man… nothing seduces a witch faster than acting like her grandfather.'
"Oh," Hermione all but squeaked as flush covered her face and quickly extended down her neck. Only Harry and her father had ever been gentlemanly enough to offer to casually escort her like that. And she wasn't sure they even counted. "Thank you," she said softly as she slid her arm through his. The shift brought them closer together, leaving her shoulder pressed to his bicep. The blush deepened as she registered the feeling of the muscle flexing against her. He was so tall and lean looking she hadn't expected him to feel so... muscled. 'I've been spending way too much time with Ginny,' she decided, quickly reining herself feeling like a pervert.
Fred clenched his jaw and bit back a groan as they continued on. Unfortunately, he was completely unaware of the charming blush on his companion's face much less that he was the cause of said blush. His mind was too busy vacillating between innocent enjoyment in having the pretty witch on his arm and cursing himself for offering in the first place. Hermione deserved to be treated properly, like the lady she was. Hearing her confession this morning made the decision for him to show her what she was missing out on before he was even aware it was an option. But damn it chivalry had its price! She was a little taller than the average witch, but she was still easily half a foot shorter than him. Leaving the side her breast pressed deliciously into his arm.
He'd planned to carry on a charmingly witty conversation, flirting outrageously as the impromptu step one in his plan of seduction. There was no more trying to deny it. That was exactly he what he'd begun to plan, despite his protests to George earlier. Perhaps when he'd first heard the girls talking he'd have been satisfied with a good kiss. Maybe even full snog. But not anymore. Her smile and that unrestrained laughter earlier were too intoxicating. He wanted to witness it again; he wanted to be the cause of it… and so much more. And he would be. Just as soon as he pulled his mind from all of the other places he wanted to feel her curves pressed against.
"When you and George were talking…" Luna began. Ginny nodded encouragingly.
"When we were tangled up on the floor."
"And Fred was kneeling by Hermione," Luna reminded her. Ginny nodded again with even more enthusiasm. She remembered thinking there was something intimate about the way he'd gone straight to her and knelt so close. Then George had distracted her and she nearly forgot seeing it. "I couldn't see clearly… his back was in the way. But she was sort of blushing."
"Blushing?" Ginny visibly deflated, her voice falling flat. She'd expected something much juicier than a little blush. "She was laughing her ass off! She was probably red from oxygen deprivation!"
"No it was different," Luna was confident. "The look on her face - in her eyes, it wasn't laughter. It was sort of... flustered looking."
"Like… 'just let one rip' flustered, or' suddenly picturing a naked Hagrid and realizing the half-giants are probably big everywhere' flustered?" Ginny was being largely sarcastic in her question, already dismissing the tidbit as insignificant.
"Naked Hagrid," this time there was no hesitation. "Well actually, like seeing enjoying the naked Hagrid." She apparently wasn't (appropriately) appalled by Ginny's skewed scale, the image of a very hairy naked half-giant. Ginny looked grossed out for a moment as she processed what Luna said. Then a dark, giddy smile spread across her face, once again failing to faze Luna.
"So what are you researching?" Hermione finally broke the silence. They were moving at a leisurely pace, Fred having shortened his stride to let her keep up with ease.
"Erm…" Fred hesitated for a moment. He jumped on the chance to get time alone with her so quickly, he hadn't fully thought through their thin cover story. His mind whirled, searching for a half-truth he could give her. But his usually sharp mind drew a blank, only able to bring up a singular idea. A very personal one. And it wasn't really the kind of light-hearted topic that'd get her laughing again. Loud chatter broke his concentration, drawing his attention to the rapidly filling street. He tightened his arm and clasped a hand over hers as a gaggle of teenagers came pouring out of Honeydukes and saved him from having to answer for the moment. He used his height to easily lead the way through the crowd, subtly angling his body to protect her from the mob-like group.
"OH MY GOD PENNY! LOOK! THERE'S JOHNNY!" The shrill screech of one of the teens next to them made both jump and reach for their wands. Fast as lighting Fred had wrapped an arm around the small of her back and pulled her closer. Oblivious to being nearly hexed by the power duo, the teen flung out her arm, nearly hitting Hermione in the face, and pointed through the window of a new Quidditch Equipment store on the across the street.
"Watch it," Fred growled, knocking her hand away.
"Ugh… Excuse you," the teen managed to look at him like Hippogriff shit despite her small stature. The aforementioned Penny stopped short in front of them, further blocking their escape. She bounced on the balls of her feet, craning her neck to look into the window.
"Where? Where?" Penny's excited nasal voice made him cringe.
"Bloody hell!" Fred twisted and grabbed Hermione's hand, and pulled her away to the safety of the far side of the pathway. Once safely away from the masses, he couldn't resist turning to look over into the storefront for himself.
"Is he worth the commotion?" Hermione struggled to keep a straight face. She'd half expected Fred to flip those girls over his shoulder.
"Absolute dreamboat," he deadpanned, eyeing the teen who looked more like a blond ape with acne than a boy. Hermione's giggle sent a shock crackling down his spine. There was only one sound he wanted to hear from her more.
"Come on," Hermione urged, tugging him forward. "Before they launch the next wave of attack."
"Yes ma'am," Fred let himself be pulled along. There was a dopey grin on his face, both from the joke and the fact that she was so caught up in the moment she hadn't realized they were still holding hands. He fought against the urge to thread their fingers together.
"You haven't answered yet," Hermione reminded him as they turned the corner to the street the book store was on.
Fred remained quiet. For a moment he considered playing dumb and asking what the question was to buy himself a moment to think. But no. He wasn't the kind of man to not give his full attention to his woman, and he didn't want her to think otherwise. Just like that morning, the decision had been made before he even realized it was an option. Hermione was the kind of woman a man kept around. And he had every intention to do exactly that. "A new candy line," he finally answered her. He knew he was really putting himself out there now. It went against his own code of conduct… but before he went any further he needed to test something first.
"Naked what?"
The scandalized gasp of horror drew their attention to the doorway of the fitting rooms. George was half in - half out of the entrance, face nearly as red as his hair.
"Did you come to try something on too?" Luna failed to catch the disgust on George's face.
"In the women's fitting room?" Ginny hissed. "Why are you sneaking around here?"
"I wanted to find out what was taking you two so long. Why are you standing here discussing naked professors?" His voice actually cracked at the end before casting a furtive glance over his shoulder. "Come on, get out here."
"Coming," Luna cheerfully obeyed. She and George chose to ignore the blatant eye-roll Ginny aimed at them before following him out.
"We'll wait for you outside," George left no chance for a retort, leading Luna outside and leaving his sister to settle the bill.
"Prat," he heard hissed at his back.
"I'm nearly afraid to ask," Hermione half-joked as the approached the door, unaware of Fred's turmoil.
"Don't be," he assured he as the opened the door. His hand tightened around hers as they entered; he couldn't stand the thought of separating so soon. Her eyes darted down to their hands, her brows furrowed. "They're more therapeutic," he added quickly to distract her, purposefully raising her curiosity in the hopes that it'd distract her.
"Therapeutic candy," Hermione's voice was tinged with surprise. He relaxed, satisfied as she quickly forgot about their tangled hands and quickly became focused on the idea.
"If that worked so well, I wonder…" his mind wondered, already conjuring other pleasurable ideas about distracting her further.
Despite knowing the road this conversation was about to go down, he couldn't resist teasing her a little. He raised a finger to his lips with a wink and led the way further into the store, away from the people milling around registers and new book displays. "Not here; it's too public," he tested his theory further by finally threading his fingers through hers as he spoke, keeping his voice low enough she had to focus to hear him. He was satisfied when her eyes widened and she nodded eagerly following him, completely unaware to the more intimate grasp her indulged in.
"Interesting… the Gryffindor Lioness is curious as a cat," he thought, amused. He thought about it another moment. "No wonder she's so innocent. That mind of hers never stops going does it?"
"Why were you two talking about Hagrid's junk?" George's voice was carefully low as he leaned against the wall, pretending to watch the people passing by. Luna leaned next to him, completely at ease.
"We weren't."
George turned to look at her, "I was right there Luna. You literally say "naked Hagrid."" His imitation of her was disturbingly on point.
"Yeah, but we weren't talking about Hagrid naked."
"How can you not be talking about the thing you were talking about?" George was surprisingly calm. The little smile playing on her lips cautioned him to keep his cool. The shop door flew open, interrupting his attempted interrogation.
"Alright, let's go," Ginny nodded at Luna. "What kind of clothes did you need?" She whirled around in a bewildered circle, "'Mione?"
"Probably with Fred," Luna supplied helpfully.
"Can we get back to the subject at hand?" George interrupted, both wanting an answer and trying, rather poorly, to cover for Fred.
"It's all the same topic," Luna smiled.
So after about a dozen rounds of editing, this turned out twice as long as the original draft.
As an important note: the next chapter will discuss mental illness and suicide. Please… if this is an issue for any of you, please don't hesitate to skip it. I will find try and create a summary of the chapter and post it immediately following chapter six instead for you instead.
Reviews make the pen flow faster...
