Somewhere on a Beach
Chapter Four
Later in the evening, after Hermione and Fred have spent enough time on the beach to feel the need for showers and some dinner, Fred somehow convinces Hermione to go out to a local pub down the road from the hotel that Daniel mentioned to him earlier in the day.
"We won't stay long. Just let me buy you a drink and then we can come back here and I'll let you beat me at Scrabble again," Fred insists, draping an arm around Hermione's shoulders and guiding her out of their hotel room and through the halls in the direction of the front doors. "Sound fair?"
Hermione huffs a bit, but in the end, concedes to her friend's suggestion.
"Fine," Hermione breathes, expecting Fred to drop his arm from around her now that she has agreed to his plan. He doesn't. "So, are we walking?"
Fred beams brightly, his pearly white teeth reflecting against the dim light in the lobby of their hotel.
"We're walking," Fred states, his smile still tugging at the corners of his lips.
Fred continues to steer Hermione with his arm around her shoulders, walking beside her on the outside of the curb in what she assumes is the direction of the pub. The pair don't say much as they walk, though Hermione doesn't mind the silence.
When they approach the weathered wooden door, Fred releases Hermione from his hold and reaches out to open the door for her. Hermione says a quiet 'thank you' to Fred as she passes him, turning briefly to make sure that he's following her when she heads over to a couple of open seats at the bar.
Hermione slips into one of the stools while Fred follows, waving the bartender over to their section. The bartender is a tall, tan-skinned man with beautiful green eyes and a charming smile who greets Fred and takes his order before turning to Hermione and doing the same.
The pub itself is a ringer for the Leaky, albeit a Muggle version of it. The decor is worn wood and more worn wood, dim lights and cracked leather booths– a classic hole-in-the-wall pub, really.
The bartender returns a moment later with their drinks before disappearing to the other side of the bar to tend to another patron.
"So, 'Mione," Fred begins, taking a sip from his tumbler of what looks like whiskey. "How are you enjoying your honeymoon?"
Hermione swirls the black cocktail straw in her drink for a moment, less to mix the drink and more so just to occupy her hands before looking to her right at Fred.
"I'm enjoying the company," Hermione smiles, taking a sip of her drink and pointedly ignoring the way that Fred's question reminds her of a different redhead.
Fred returns her smile, reaching out to grasp onto the legs of her stool to drag her closer to him. Hermione squeaks in surprise, her hands flying to hold onto the seat to keep herself balanced, despite knowing that Fred would never actually let her fall.
"Let's play a game," Fred suggests, releasing Hermione's stool and bringing his right arm up to rest on the bartop.
Hermione raises an eyebrow.
"What kind of game?"
Fred seems to think for a moment, taking another swig of his whiskey in the interim.
"Truth or Dare?" Fred suggests, his signature mischievous twinkle shining in his eyes.
Something about the notion of playing Truth or Dare with Fred Weasley makes Hermione's stomach twist with nerves, but even in spite of that, she finds herself wanting to do so.
"Mm, wizards usually use Veritaserum for Truth or Dare," Hermione states, her voice low so that the man behind her won't overhear. "I presume that you don't have any of that on hand?"
Fred smirks, leaning a bit closer to Hermione to whisper, "I suppose you'll just have to trust me, then."
Hermione doesn't feel the need to reiterate– for the second time today– that she already does trust Fred, perhaps more implicitly than she does most people. Rather, she decides to challenge him, instead.
"And what makes you think that you can trust me?" Hermione wonders, narrowing her eyes playfully at her friend.
Fred doesn't miss a beat before responding.
"Because I already do."
"Truth," Hermione chooses after downing the remainder of her second drink with a– in her opinion– rather unbecoming giggle.
Fred seems to think for a moment before he decides on his question for Hermione.
"Most embarrassing crush?" Fred asks with a wink before quickly amending his question. "And Lockhart and my brother don't count. I already know about those."
Hermione rolls her eyes, though it's more out of self-preservation than annoyance. She could lie– she could tell him that it was George, even though it wasn't– as she had hoped to take this secret to the grave, but that wouldn't be sporting. With a sigh, she decides to just tell him.
"Draco Malfoy," Hermione states, silently hoping that the bartender will bring her another drink without her having to ask. She intends to drown herself in it.
Fred's eyes widen comically, his mouth twisting up into a ridiculously self-satisfied smile. "Oh, I knew that your answer would be good, but I wasn't expecting it to be that good. Explain yourself, 'Mione," Fred laughs, also finishing off his own drink.
Hermione bites her bottom lip as she feels her cheeks heat.
"Listen, in my defense, it was first year. He was a jerk, but he was a cute jerk," Hermione defends herself. "As far as I'm concerned, that's my type– arseholes."
Fred shakes his head, his eyes still sparkling damningly at Hermione.
"Then we just need to find you an arsehole who is only nice to you," Fred points out, shrugging his shoulders. " It's perfect. If he's only nice to you, then that means that he likes you more than anyone else. You wouldn't have to worry about him cheating with a twenty year-old secretary and you'd still get the 'arsehole' vibe that you're into."
Despite herself, Hermione laughs, placing her hand atop where Fred's forearm rests on the bar. Perhaps unconsciously, his muscle flexes under her arm which absolutely does not make Hermione's heart skip a beat.
"That's mental," Hermione deduces, though still laughing. "Well, who was your most embarrassing crush? I think you ought to tell me yours now that I told you mine."
Fred tsks and Hermione feels his arm flex again.
"That's not how the game works, 'Mione," Fred whispers, leaning in closer to her just a bit. "But I'll tell you anyway because we're friends. It was Angelina."
Hermione's eyes also widen in surprise.
"Oh, Merlin," Hermione breathes as she tries to wrap her mind around Fred telling her that at some point, he had had feelings for his twin brother's now-wife. "When was this?"
"Fourth and fifth year. I forced it down after she and George went to the Yule Ball together. I obviously don't feel that way about her anymore, but I suppose it's still sort of terrible."
Hermione tries to drop the subject. She knows that she shouldn't prod Fred for more information. He's clearly embarrassed about it, but…
"Dear Godric, what is it with you Weasleys and having inappropriate crushes? You and Angelina, Ron and Fleur, Ron and Olivia–"
Fred's eyes snap to Hermione's at that last one.
"Ron and Olivia are not the same thing. Ron cheated on you. Sure, it probably started as an inappropriate crush, but he took it further. Please don't lump me in with him," Fred spits, drawing back from where he still has Hermione's hand on his arm.
Hermione's fingers tighten around Fred's forearm in an attempt to keep him from running away from her.
"You're right. I'm sorry. It is different," Hermione responds, feeling properly chastised. "I just can't fathom having romantic feelings either for someone who is in a relationship or for someone other than my partner when I'm in a relationship. The thought makes my eyes twitch."
Fred finally pulls completely out of Hermione's grasp.
"Yes, well, as usual, Hermione, you're a better person than the rest of us," Fred huffs, standing from his stool. "I'm going to the loo. I'll be back."
Fred doesn't wait for a response before turning on his heel and disappearing through the crowd behind where Hermione is sitting. Hermione's shoulders deflate at the realization that she has clearly, if inadvertently, upset her friend.
"Hey, there, beautiful."
Hermione looks up from her empty glass and into the dark brown eyes of a tall man with sandy blonde hair. His hair is long and pulled back into a ponytail and his smile is kind.
"Is this seat taken?" the man asks, gesturing to the seat which Fred recently vacated.
Hermione opens her mouth to tell him that yes, the seat is taken, but by the time that she does, he has already slipped into it.
"I'm Alex," the man introduces himself with a clear southern-American accent. "You looked lonely over here by yourself."
Hermione can't imagine that that's true based on the fact that Fred only left a few minutes ago, but she supposes that if Alex only walked into the bar a moment ago, that he might think so.
"Hermione," she replies, not wanting to be rude to the seemingly-nice man.
The man's eyes widen minutely– a reaction which Hermione is accustomed to when telling people her name.
"Unique name. Were your parents Shakespeare fans?" he wonders, surprising Hermione by knowing her namesake.
Hermione smiles, nodding her head.
"They were. I take it you are, too?" she asks, now genuinely interested.
Alex nods in return, taking a sip from his bottle of, presumably, beer before replying.
"I was an English major in college. The Winter's Tale was required reading for one of my classes."
Hermione smiles in return, opening her mouth to respond when a noise from behind her– which sounds distinctly like the clearing of a throat– surprises her into silence. She whirls her head around until she sees the culprit– one Fredrick Gideon Weasley, with his jaw set hard like stone and his eyes narrowed daringly at the man beside Hermione.
"Who's this, Hermione?" Fred asks, though his eyes never leave Alex's face.
Fred drops his arm over Hermione's shoulders, tightening it more than he has done in the past when standing in this position and tugs Hermione close to his side.
Hermione resists the urge to roll her eyes at Fred's blatant show of dominance– barely.
"Alex," the man introduces himself, his eyes cutting briefly to Hermione before returning back to meet Fred's. "And you are?"
Fred tucks his free hand into his trouser pocket, likely in an attempt to feign nonchalance, which Hermione thinks that he is actually failing terribly at.
"Fred. Her husband," Fred emphasizes the word as if it were actually true.
At that declaration from Fred, Alex stands from the barstool quickly, his eyes widening to approximately the size of saucers.
"Ah, sorry, man. She didn't say that she was married," Alex apologizes– to Fred– before scurrying off and disappearing into the crowd.
It isn't lost on Hermione that Alex has just completely thrown her under the metaphorical bus to her 'husband', as if she was the one to approach him and strike up a conversation. Of course, Hermione does think that it would be inappropriate to have any sort of leading conversation with another man if she was, in fact, married, but there are two counter-points in this situation specifically that make that practically null and void. The first of which is that her conversation with Alex was casual– he asked her name and found it interesting that he knew the origin of it, of all things. The second of which is the– perhaps even more important– fact that she is not actually married.
"We should go back to the hotel," Fred states, his voice still tight, though he does remove his arm from around Hermione.
Hermione actually does roll her eyes this time, though she decides that it's probably best to bite her tongue until she and Fred are alone before calling him out on his attitude.
As Hermione walks beside Fred off of the property of the bar, she can just feel Fred stewing next to her. His tension is palpable, and for that reason, Hermione stops abruptly once they step out onto the sidewalk which leads to their hotel.
"Care to explain what's bothering you, Fred, or are we just going to spend the rest of this vacation in silence?" Hermione asks– with admittedly, probably a bit more bite in her voice than is strictly necessary, especially when speaking to someone she cares so much for.
Fred walks a couple of steps ahead of Hermione, seemingly before registering her stop and her words before he eventually does and comes to a halt himself. He turns to face her, his head down and both hands stuffed into his pockets. He looks distinctly… uncomfortable.
"It's nothing, 'Mione. Don't worry about it," Fred replies, though it's really not much of an answer.
Hermione crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow, preferring not to respond verbally in this instance. After all, she's pretty positive that she can wear Fred down with just a look after so many years of doing the same to Harry and Ron.
Fred lifts his hands from his pockets and drags them down his face, groaning aloud before he speaks again.
"I just didn't like the way that he was looking at you. He was into you."
Hermione shakes her head, her fingers tightening on her arms in frustration.
"And?" she questions, still not understanding Fred's motive.
Fred sighs heavily, looking up to the sky for a moment before returning his gaze to Hermione.
"And… Nothing. Let's just drop it, 'Mione. It's late. We should get some sleep."
Hi, friends! Happy Saturday!
First and foremost, thank you all so much for your kindness, support and patience as relates to my surgery. I am almost two weeks post-op as I'm writing this and am healing well. I still have a long road ahead of me for recovery, but I am likely out of the worst of it. Thank you again for your support.
In fairness, I want to be up front that uploads still may be unpredictable due to the nature of my healing process. I'm uploading both Snippets and Somewhere on a Beach today to update you all, but I can't guarantee that I'm quite ready to resume regular uploads just yet. I will try my absolute best, though. (:
Also, just wanted to add in here that obviously I made a few tweaks to canon with this fic (outside of the obvious), but y'know, that's how we do with fanfic. And I had to throw in that part about Hermione crushing on Draco for all of my Dramione fans. I'm right there with you. :P
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and as always, feel free to review. I love reading them.
See you again soon. (:
P.S. I'm going to use this A/N for both Snippets and Somewhere on a Beach for the sake of simplicity, so I apologize for the redundancy if you read both fics. (: