Early July 1996, the City of London.
Fred was having a great day.
It was a little strange, this first summer where he was a working adult, where he wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts in September, but it was great nonetheless. July opened its arms to him, giving him a beautiful day to explore Muggle London while on his afternoon off from the shop.
So Fred wandered into the City of London, heading North-ish in his search for good food.
A pad thai place nestled in between old buildings caught his eye — the neon sign and the faded, sun-bleached posters which no longer advertised their options drawing his attention.
It smelt good, too, he noticed as he entered. So he stood in line, ordered their daily special, and found a chair near to the counter to await his meal, idly reading the various signage around the restaurant. Once he was done with that, he glanced at the other patrons: a mother and her young children, a group in business attire who had pushed some tables together, and a pair of girls who were examining some record sleeves and other items as they pulled them from the bags they'd purchased them in.
Curiosity piqued, Fred surreptitiously looked at the records they had, finding, oddly enough, that he recognized the band — Oasis. One of Hermione's favourites.
And—
Oh fuck. It was Hermione.
Averting his eyes, Fred debated: go over and embarrass himself of his own will, or ignore her and simultaneously hope that she doesn't see him and that she calls him over to talk. He didn't know which was worse: if she didn't care, or if she did, only not the way he wanted her to.
The choice was made for him as the worker behind the counter called him to his meal, and as he turned around — to go find a bench outside to eat at, away from this sweet torture — Hermione saw him, stopping mid-sentence as she cocked her head ever-so-slightly to the side.
A smile grew on her face. "Fred?" She stood from her seat, waving him over.
Smiling back, he made his way. His "Hey, Hermione,"was cut off slightly by the hug she embraced him with.
"It's so good to see you! Is George here too?"
"Jus' me. Someone needs to man the shop."
"Business is booming, then? I can't wait to see it."
"Literally booming. There're these kids who come in just to set off the display fireworks… But it's great. I love it. I've turned into a professional jokester."
"That's great! Do you want to join us? This is my cousin Nico. Nico, this is Fred, a friend of mine from school." Fred hid the skip his heart made as he imagined Hermione introducing him as something other than a friend.
"If I'm not interrupting? Nice to meet you, Nico." He shook her hand.
"You're not interrupting anything, Fred. Nice to meet you too. Hermione and I just got done shopping and needed a bite."
"Records?" Fred asked, taking a seat and opening his carry-out container to dig in.
"And CDs, for Nico," Hermione affirmed, slyly reminding him of the muggle terminology.
"Anything good?"
Launching into her finds, Hermione began, "The newest Oasis album— this one came out in October. You liked them, right?" She asked, just as Fred took a large bite of his food.
Swallowing quickly, he nodded. "Yeah, I liked them — Definitely Maybe, right?"
"Yes! This one is called (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, and I got some Radiohead, and this is… well, the band is called Porno for Pyros, and their first album wasn't great, but I liked Jane's Addiction, and this is the same singer, so I'm optimistic. And I even found Nirvana's MTV Unplugged on LP as well, which I've been looking for. But you'd like this one — the Undertones. They're more your jam."
Fred grinned at Hermione as she spoke. A fond, soft thing, drinking in her excited words. "Nice. Lemme see," he said, pulling the stack closer to him, looking the second-hand The Undertones vinyl over briefly before he turned to Nico, remembering his manners. "What about you? What CDs?"
Nico looked at him, eyes darting briefly back to Hermione, before she smiled — a nefarious smile, Fred's mind though in alarm — and spoke about her musical finds.
The rest of the lunch was much of the same, letting Hermione and her cousin about music, Fred only adding vague half-stories, mindful that Nico was a muggle.
Eventually though, Hermione left for the loo, and Nico turned to him and near manically proclaimed, "you fancy her!"
An older woman a table over looked over and started chuckling as Fred adamantly shushed Hermione's cousin.
"Yes, yes, fine. Okay! I fancy her. Now leave it?"
"Oh absolutely not. How long?"
"How long what?" Fred countered, feigning obliviousness.
"How long have you fancied her?"
"I don't know — two years? Three? Hermione could come back any second. Could you drop it? I don't want her to find out I love her like this."
Eyes now wide, Nico gasped. "You love her?"
Fred glared.
"Fine," Nico said, but the look on her face said that the subject would not be dropped.
So Fred begged off once Hermione returned, citing having errands to run on his day off, leaving Hermione with an open invitation to visit the shop, and telling Nico it was good meeting her.
Throwing his container in the bin provided, he left the pad thai place, but not without hearing Nico say, "he's cute."
He closed his ears before he could hear Hermione's response. He already knew he was fucked.
I know a girl /See her all the time in the street /
She makes me feel /
I'm in love every time that we meet /