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The last of the reports Hermione had written flew out the window with her owl, on route to her boss for morning delivery. She had intended to finish them before nightfall but she'd found herself carried away by the Weasley family and friends, that work easily slipped her mind.
Sighing, Hermione climbed out from her desk and only then did she acknowledge the chill that had crawled over her and the house while she'd been determined to finish her assignments.
At random, Hermione grabbed a jumper from Ginny’s bed and pulled it over her head. It hung loose everywhere and hit her just above her knees, swallowing her shorts from view.
For the third time in a week, Ginny’s bed was empty. Harry and Ginny finding each other after the war made Hermione inexplicably happy for both her friends. They were happy together and anyone with eyes could see that they would be each other's 'one' until the end of time, perhaps for longer still. Yet Hermione couldn't help miss the nights spent whispering to one another about nothing and everything in a night.
Hermione's watch read half past one in the morning. And while she couldn't suppress the yawn that caught her at the recognition of the time, she couldn't resist the urge for a cup of green tea.
Ron complained about the smell of her herbal teas all the time. She had pointedly told him that she couldn't care less whether his nose liked it or not. After continued mumbling complaints, Hermione relented and started drinking the tea at night. It was to keep the peace she reminded herself, but most of all to keep her peace from snapping.
Hermione quietly made her way down the staircase of the Burrow, careful to not wake Percy and the twins, whose rooms were closest to the staircase.
She continued to tip toe until she reached the doorway, halting at the sight of yellow light warming the rug, realising that she was not the only one still awake. Hermione peeked into the kitchen, watching as one of the twins gently clinked and stirred himself a cup of tea. While he towered over the counter, his shoulder's were not stooped over his mug. As he dipped his mug below the tap, adding what Hermione could only assume to be cold water to his brew, his movements seemed languid, unhurried. He seemed so relaxed and when the twin turned, Hermione knew it to be Fred Weasley.
Hermione was appreciative that the Weasley’s didn’t lose anyone in the war. Their family wouldn’t have been the same. Fred was a close call. He was in St Mungo’s for two months before he was released. Even then, he was confined to bed rest for decent chunk of time. In that time, Molly became protective over all her children, even Charlie, who she demanded came back to stay with them for Christmas. He agreed and for Hermione, it was one of the most hectic, but brilliant Christmas’ she'd had.
All the laughter and the pranks the twins played with Charlie acting as their third musketeer. The easy smiles, the warmth and the gift of having time to create unburdened memories, was the best gift Hermione had received this year. Although it was a couple days ago, Hermione already missed the Christmas spirit. There was still strings of tinsel hanging about the house and mistletoe popping up every so often but as Christmas distanced itself, the magic had begun to lose it potency. The Christmas tree, however, was staunch, flashing its fairy lights and Arthur's falling snow enchantment continuing on in defiance. It helped Hermione remind her that Christmas wasn't gone yet.
“What are you doing up this late, Fred?” Hermione asked. Narrowing in on the twin in front of her, Hermione wandered into the kitchen, perching beside the kitchen bench.
“Nothing really. Just having some tea,” Fred gestured softly with his gripped mug, almost toasting Hermione with it.
“Are you drinking my tea?” Hermione questioned. She crossed her arms and leaned on the kitchen bench.
This was Fred Weasley. One half of the infamous twins that wreck havoc at any given opportunity. It was in his nature to have done something.
Lifting a brow in a questioning manner, Fred replied with almost too much ease, “Didn’t realize it was your tea, Granger.”
Unsurprisingly, a smirk appeared, faltering across his face. The smirk invoked an effect over Fred's character. His body relaxed but his eyes seemed more awake, waiting for her to say something for him to make a joke of. Waiting for his moment. He lifted the tea to his mouth and sipped in faux innocence.
“Of course it’s my tea! I’m the only one that drinks it!” Hermione whispered angrily. She wanted to say more on the subject, but she did not want to be alerting the Burrow to her burning indignation at something as contrite as tea.
“Well, obviously not anymore,” Fred mumbled. “Look if you want, you can have my cup and I’ll make another cup for myself just so that I can assure you I haven’t done anything to your precious tea, alright?” Fred asked. His honey brown eyes looked sincere and weirdly enough, eager.
“Oh. Well, alright.” Hermione huffed, loathe to admit that the sincerity she'd glimpsed had taken her aback slightly.
Accepting Fred's cup, Hermione found herself being maneuvered into a seat at the dining table. She stirred the tea with the teaspoon left in the mug and watched Fred set to work. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing in the kitchen, even if she was just looking at his back.
Fred rolled his shoulders a few time catching Hermione’s attention on the lack of clothes on Fred. His cornflower blue long bottoms depicted snowmen throwing snowballs at each other. But Hermione’s vision was stuck to the uncovered back of Fred Weasley.
His shoulders were broad and well toned from his quidditch playing days. Hermione may not have been a fan of quidditch, but there were aspects of it to appreciate. A scattering of freckles graced his shoulders, falling like a meteor shower. They faded as they fell further down his back. Something whispered to Hermione, enticing her wonder at the number of freckles he owned. A silent, completely unnecessary challenge presented itself, curiosity asking Hermione to admire and come back with an answer of how many freckles she could find against the planes of his shoulders.
Without Hermione's count even beginning, Fred spun facing Hermione with blazing eyes. It were as if he knew what she had been attempting. Where he thoughts had wandered. Hermione flushed, bringing the cup to her mouth, almost wishing that it would distract from the quiet that inhabited the room. Fred dragged the spoon around his cup of tea, watching her intently.
“You’d better drink that before it gets cold,” Fred said, a slow grin quickly hidden by his lips cooling his fresh tea with a deft blow.
Her cradled, barely touched tea, sat beneath her nose. Distraction was partly to blame. But so was distrust. Would Fred really have done something to the tea? Before she'd announced herself, he'd seemed unbothered. And he was quick to offer his to smother any argument from her.
With a deep breath, Hermione took a small sip and was quick to swallow her satisfaction with a deeper pull from the mug. This was better than Hermione's own brews. There was a sweetness that complimented the tea's taste perfectly. The liquid felt smoother as it ran down her throat. The tea was at the perfect temperature for Hermione to take her fill without worry over burning her tongue.
Her mug was empty before she wanted it to be finished. Resting the mug against her chin, Hermione ruminated on the delight that was Fred's tea and only opened her eyes to the purposeful sound of scraping wood. Fred was now opposite her at the table, a gratified smile that was too large for him to hide behind the sip of tea he took.
“What? Was there something in the tea? Because I swear Fred-”
“No, no. Nothing bad in the tea. I'm just enjoying the view.” Fred continued grinning and took another sip of his tea before placing it on the table and leaning back in his seat, taking his turn to close his eyes.
The connotation of his statement brought warmth flushing throughout Hermione again. Resetting her cup on the table, Hermione returned to her previous endeavor while she had a preoccupied Fred.
He seemed so relaxed, she had never seen him so still either. He was usually tapping his foot to some tune or raking his fingers through his hair, which was beginning to become the type of length that Molly would scold him for. Hermione tried to memorize him in this moment. A smile ghosting over his lips, the small lines on his face from all his smiles over the years, all his freckles along the bridge of his nose and cheeks, his strong jawline and then there was his chest.
The freckles from along his shoulders followed down his chest, where there was a smattering of them along his pecks. His chest was toned and his stomach was lean, but one could tell there was muscle there.
Their roles reversed, Hermione admiring the view before her.
Fred’s chair suddenly landed back on the ground, a very aware Fred catching Hermione with a large grin and twinkling eyes.
“It’s rude to stare.” He cocked his eyebrow at her and Hermione felt her residual flush warming back up.
Hermione was going to pick herself up and thank him for the tea and leave but she felt courageous tonight. Maybe she was sleep deprived but she had already started to put her plan into action. Fred was just the variable.
“Yes, I suppose it is, but so is being half naked with company.” Hermione had lent forward, placing her arms on the table to support her head. Hermione stared at Fred waiting for his reply, but unexpectedly Fred grin widened as if Hermione had waltzed into his trap.
“Yeah it is a bit, but seeing as you're sitting quite comfortably in my Christmas jumper, I thought you weren’t minding my amazing physique.” He winked.
Hermione looked down at the sweater she had taken from Ginny’s bed and nearly swore at the truth. It was Fred’s jumper. Of course it was one of Molly’s knitted jumpers, it was too soft to be anything else and held the scent of home baking. Unless that was how Fred smelt. That was not a line of thinking she should wind herself into investigating.
“I grabbed this off of Ginny’s bed before I came down. I can give it back tomorrow morning, if you'd like?” The calmness of her reaction took Hermione by surprise. Perhaps she was all out of embarrassment tonight. Maybe she had an internal monitor that only allowed so many reactions in one night.
“You could just give back to me now, if you're so offended by my chest. I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing you half naked, Granger.” Fred winked again. He held his obvious laughter with the biting of his lip.
Hermione's previous assumptions about her threshold fizzled with snatching up of her mug and flinging the object at Fred. He caught it with ease but his laugh escaped him and if there was not heat bubbling across her chest, she might have furthered her discoveries about Fred, especially the way his biceps contracted with his laughter.
Pushing herself out of her seat, Hermione jerkily removed her cup from his still chuckling grasp and put into the sink. Resolved to stomp back to her room, Fred was in front of her with his hands against the bench behind her, enclosing her from moving.
“Fred, move.” Hermione spoke from behind her clenched teeth. That courage had quickly turned to anger with the help of the Weasley before her.
“Hey, I’m sorry, okay? I’m glad you liked the tea, but I didn’t mean for you to get upset. A bit embarrassed, yes, but not angry,” Fred whispered. He lowered his head, either to try and make eye contact or for another reason that Hermione wouldn't have opposed minutes ago.
How had he done that? How had he made her anger melt away? She was close to snapping on him but now, now she wasn’t sure what to do.
“I never said I liked the tea,” Hermione spoke just loud enough for Fred to hear. He smiled gently, his face getting closer to Hermione’s own face.
“You liked the tea, Granger. Don’t try and deny it.” Fred’s mouth had barely moved when he had spoken but Hermione heard his words loud and clear. She could feel Fred’s breath on her cheek and it smelt of green tea, making her smile slightly.
Her heart was beating faster than she'd ever thought possible. This was Fred. The crueler twin who was always playing a prank. But was this a prank? Could he pull off a prank like this, so well?
Before Hermione knew it, Fred’s hands were on her waist, lifting her with ease onto the bench behind her. Fred straightened and even then he was taller than Hermione. He chuckled and leaned in again, only to brush away a stray hair which had fallen from her bun.
Hermione put her hand on his bare chest and couldn't help but feel accomplished when Fred leaned into her touch.
“I meant it, you know?” Fred whispered, his nose inches away from her own.
“What do you mean-” Hermione cut herself off as she realized what Fred was speaking about. She flushed, well and truly killing any idea that Hermione had a limit to Fred's affect on her.
Chuckling, Fred lifted his hand to Hermione cheek. Hermione closed her eyes and tilted her cheek against Fred’s hand. It was warm and comforting. She wanted to stay like this.
“You’re too easily embarrassed. That was a serious compliment-”
“Shut up.” Hermione smiled and pushed forward to brush her lips against his. She wasn’t sure whether or not he really wanted this. What if he just wanted a little fun? She really had dug her own grave if that was the case. But if this was a game, Fred will find out that he's cosigned a headstone beside hers.
So her lips just stayed there, hovering above his, too scared to do anything but stay in the moment.
Regret was seconds from retracting her lips from anywhere near his when Fred allowed her the relief of his lips pressed against hers. Shocked, her lips forgot how to do anything. She still hadn’t closed her eyes. He pulled away and began stuttering out half words, when Hermione grabbed his chin and kissed him again.
His lips were soft and still had a lingering taste of green tea on them. She let him dominate the kiss, as she just lost herself.
She was kissing Fred Weasley. The boy she crushed on in Hogwarts, simply because he was in the business of making others happy. People would laugh, cry even from the twins antics. She'd always thought the crush to be silly and useless, on the account that Fred would never see her in such a way. So she pushed it away. She scolded and threatened them, even if she knew the twins wouldn’t do the testing on first years if there were harmful reactions. Hermione knew that his temper was quick to rise, and even quicker to react to it without his twin to rein him in. She knew that he could be judgemental, cruel but she also knew that he'd survived too much to take anything for granted anymore. That he was protective, beyond inventive and insightful.
Here, in the Burrow's kitchen at two in the morning, Hermione Granger was kissing Fred Weasley.
There was a popping of apparition outside the window, low chuckles and murmurs could be heard but both Fred and Hermione were too occupied to hear it. The noises grew, until George and Charlie burst through the back door, entering the scene that was taking placing in the kitchen.
Fred separated from Hermione and glared at both his brothers, as if he could make them disappear again with a burning look.
Identical grins slipped onto the faces of Charlie and George.
A long silence enveloped the room, the interrupting pair still and only the occasional hooting from stray owls splicing the silence. Fred seemed to be having a silent argument with George. Where George's grin widened, Fred's frown strengthened. The silence was too much. It was crawling over her body like insects and wrecking havoc within herself. She should just go to her room, try and get some sleep and forget this ever happened. Maybe she could go stay with Harry and Ginny, give herself reprieve to her over stretched nerves and let things settle into normality. No matter how disappointing it may be in comparison to what she'd been experiencing moments ago.
Decided, Hermione quietly lowered herself to the ground, trying to make sure the Weasley brothers didn’t notice too much. Hermione was sure she caught eyes with Charlie, but she lowered her head to avoid anymore eye contact.
“I’m going to bed. George, Charlie…” Hermione turned to face Fred and found herself unsure of what to say.
“Thanks for the tea, Fred,” She murmured. A tug as she passed by Fred, stopped her in her tracks. Fred held her hand loosely, his face taking a downward tilt and his eyes pleading for her to stay. His thumb rubbed circles on her palm and suddenly Hermione was having a hard time breathing evenly.
“I think that’s our cue Georgy boy,” Charlie stated. George pouted while Charlie steered him by the shoulders, their movement reminding Hermione of a reluctant congo line.
“I’ll put him to bed. You two have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t I do.” He winked at both of them with a grin.
“The only fault with that is, Charlie does everything.”
“Everything?” Hermione quirked an eyebrow, a smile ghosting over her lips. Hermione knew how to act with teasing Fred. It was easy. It was comforting.
“Everything,” Fred replied in a matter of fact tone. He was shaking his head as if he were disappointed in Charlie, but Hermione knew better. The twins looked up to Bill and Charlie, but more so Charlie. He was after all the older brother who worked with dragons.
“Hey! I don’t do everything!” Charlie’s head had popped out from behind the doorway and held the most delightfully, sly grin at the sight before him.
Hermione and Fred pointed matching glares in the direction of Charlie. They were trying to talk and get what had just happened sorted. When George’s head popped out from the doorway behind Charlie, Hermione sighed. Did she really think that they could speak privately in a house full of Fred’s siblings?
“Charlie mate, you do do everything.” George's grin fell when he saw Fred’s expression.
“And it looks like we are not wanted. Let’s actually go.” George grabbed Charlie and dragged them up the stairs.
Fred still had Hermione’s hand clasped in his. It was so much bigger than hers that it engulfed hers. Fred looked down at their hands and let go of his grip, only to go scratch the back of his neck.
“This is why I have flat away from this place. Do you, maybe, want to come with me for another cup of tea?” Fred was suggesting she goes back to his flat above his shop. Hermione smiled at offer and smiled even brighter when nodded her head.
As they walked out of the burrow, Hermione laced her fingers through Fred’s. When he looked down at her, she smiled back up at him.
~
“Charlie! Get up!” Molly was preparing breakfast for everyone in the Burrow, which included Ginny and Harry, but there seemed to be no sign of Hermione or Fred. Molly muttering to herself the words: 'Charlie', 'no manners' and 'needs to stay home more'.
“George, where’s your brother?” Molly was trying to do the dishes and finish cooking the bacon as George replied,
“Which one?”
“Don’t be smart, you know which one. And who left these cups here? Honestly these children…” Molly continued to mumble as she finished breakfast. At this point, Charlie was in the room and smirking with George. They both knew who left those mugs and with neither of them making an appearance this late into the morning, without the convenient excuse of hangovers, it just so seemed they knew where to find a certain twosome.
“Hey, Georgy! I think it’s time you took me over to your shop.” Charlie scooped some toast from the table and was now eating from the doorway.
“You know what Charlie, I think that's a great idea. We should leave now I think, just to be safe.” George grabbed some bacon from the table and began to run through the back door, with Charlie behind him.
“Bye mum!” In sync they shouted back to the burrow waving at the house.
“You two! Come back here! We need to speak about last night!” Molly screeched at the two, who had already apparated away.
“Come one on, mum. They’re big boys and plus Teddy’s coming over today.” Ginny had placed a hand on one of the woman’s shoulders and smiled.
“Yes, yes. That reminds I have to clean and cook and set everything up! Those twins and Charlie better be back here. Where’s Hermione? She wouldn’t want to miss seeing Teddy.” Molly began busying herself with all the chores while everyone left at the Burrow ate their breakfast.
Ginny sat back down next to Harry and smiled at the connected dots. Fred’s jumper missing, two mugs left in the sink, Charlie and George leaving for the shop and Fred and Hermione missing.
“Took them long enough.” Ginny mumbled as she chuckled into Hermione's tea.