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"Say, Hermione," Fred said, looking over at the dark-haired witch sitting beside him on the couch, "do you know what tomorrow is?"
Hermione's brow furrowed in thought—something that Fred found adorable. "Aside from it being the first of October, no. It's not a birthday, nor any anniversary, and it isn't any holiday that I'm aware of..."
Fred heaved a dramatic sigh as he propped his feet up on the mismatched ottoman. "Oh, Hermione, methinks you doth answer my question a little too literally. Tomorrow is October 1st, yes, but do you know what that means?"
"Something tells me that you're going to make sure I do, Fred," Hermione laughed, leaning her head on his shoulder. "As of right now, though, I don't know what it means, so please enlighten me."
"It means," Fred said in a tone conveying the utmost patience, "that I can start decorating for Halloween without feeling any guilt whatsoever."
Hermione looked up at him, her raised eyebrow betraying her skepticism towards that statement. "Since when do you ever feel guilty about that sort of thing?"
"Since never," Fred admitted, gently running his hand through her hair, "but Mum always had a rule growing up that we couldn't start decorating for Halloween until October 1st, and I guess it kind of...carried over."
"Interesting," Hermione said thoughtfully. "A rule that you actually followed."
"Oh, I'm not sure I'd go that far," Fred chuckled. "George and I always started planning well in advance, gathering materials and whatnot, we just hid them in our room and didn't put them up until the first day in October."
"How very clever of you," Hermione teased. "I'm sure your mother always wondered how you were able to put up so much so quickly!"
Fred nodded. "Oh, yeah, she always gave us suspicious looks, but she couldn't really argue with any of it since we'd done as she asked."
"I'm just surprised that she didn't snoop around your room to try and figure out where it had all come from," Hermione said. She snuggled closer to the redhead and wrapped her arms around his chest.
"Oh, she did try one year, but George and I set so many booby traps that she eventually gave up, and she never tried again after that." Fred's body shook with silent laughter at the memory of his mother's horrified screeches. The garden gnomes had been a particularly successful addition.
Hermione waited until he had composed himself before asking, "Do you already have decorations ready for tomorrow, then?"
Fred flashed her a mischievous grin. His girlfriend was in for quite the surprise tomorrow. "We do indeed."
"There's nothing scary , though, is there, Fred?" Hermione wanted to know. She pulled away from him slightly to give him a stern look. "Do I need to be prepared for things to jump out at me or anything?"
"Sheesh, Hermione, it's not like we're going to turn the place into a haunted house," Fred said, giving her his best wounded look.
This time, Hermione sat all the way up as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You also said that the Valentine's decorations would be harmless, and one of those cupids shot me in the bum!"
"It was a foam arrow!" Fred protested. "It didn't injure you!"
"You still misrepresented what they could do," Hermione huffed. It had been a sore point with her for a few weeks, but she had eventually gotten over it, or so Fred had thought. Apparently she and Fred had very different definitions of the word "harmless," though.
Fred leaned over and brushed a tendril of hair out of her face. "I'm very sorry about that cupid," he murmured, letting his lips hover mere inches from hers.
Hermione looked as if she wanted to continue berating him, but closed her eyes instead. "I know you are," she murmured in response.
Fred cupped her cheek with his hand and kissed her gently. "I promise that nothing will jump out at you tomorrow, love. Alright?"
"Good." Hermione pressed her forehead against his for a moment before asking, "Do you also promise that you won't prank me with any of the decorations in any way?"
Fred snorted. "Can Pygmy Puffs fly?"
"It was worth a shot," Hermione giggled, pulling him in for another kiss.