Chapter Text
Fractions were boring. Exam reviews about fractions were even more boring. Ben already understood all of it. He wished Miss Parks would just give him the test now. He let his attention drift away from maths and out the window. It had started snowing at lunch and hadn’t stopped. There was definitely enough built up now to take the sled out at Nan and Grandad’s house.
“Benjamin.”
The stern voice of his teacher instantly drew his mind away from the weather and back to class. Miss Parks was looking at him expectantly and Ben sat up straight.
“Could you answer my question, please?”
Ben looked up at the blackboard. A circle had been drawn and divided into four sections, with only one section shaded in. Did Miss Parks want to know how much was left or how much had been taken out?
“Remains,” came a faint whisper from behind him.
“Three-fourths,” Ben answered quickly, thankful that his best friend sat behind him.
Miss Parks gave him a skeptical look before nodding and saying, “Please pay attention to the review. I promise the snow will still be there at three o’clock.”
As Ben contemplated the possibility of a sudden heatwave sweeping through Devon in the next twenty minutes, the boy beside him hissed, “Lucky your girlfriend saved you, Weasel.”
“Shut it, Liam,” Katy warned and Liam went silent. Katy had two older brothers and Liam had learned the hard way not to push her limits. Unfortunately, Ben was an only child, with a silly last name and a fear of confrontation. Liam had tagged him with the nickname Weasel in nursery school and never let it go.
Ben frowned and picked up his pencil as a stack of worksheets was passed back to him. He took one and passed the rest back to Katie, who gave him a reassuring smile.
He started filling in the answers all the while thinking about how Liam wouldn’t say all that mean stuff if they were in the wizarding world. The Weasley name was famous among witches and wizards. Practically everyone knew who they were and not just because his dad ran a successful joke shop. His family had played a big part in winning a war against a really bad dark wizard, years before he had been born. Since then, the Weasleys were known for being brave and loyal and just all-around awesome.
But, at Plymouth Preparatory he was Ben Weasel- the weird redhead that talked about dragons too much. If only the others knew that dragons were real then maybe they wouldn’t tease him so much.
Ben quickly finished his review sheet and then sat and watched the minutes slowly tick away, thinking about how much fun he was going to have racing down the snow-covered hills at his grandparents’ house. When the dismissal bell rang he quickly packed up his bag, threw on his coat, and dropped the review sheet on Miss Parks’ desk as he hurried out with Katy and Max. When they got outside, his friends found their parents and shouted out their goodbyes. Ben scanned the crowd at the gate, trying to find Nana Molly within the sea of people.
“Ben!”
Ben’s heart dropped and he instantly froze when he saw his dad’s girlfriend, Hermione, break through the crowd.
Hermione had just finished putting away the last of her laundry when she heard the sound of her floo. When she went to the living room to investigate, she was pleasantly surprised to find her boyfriend brushing off his trousers.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as he strode forward and kissed her. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until dinner time.”
“I remembered you took the day off and thought it would be nice to have lunch together, too,” Fred answered.
Hermione smiled. She knew him well to know that the extra-wide grin and rise of his voice at the end signaled that was the only reason for his surprise appearance.
“And…” she said.
“Damn, you read people well.”
“It’s what makes me a good lawyer. What’s up?” she asked, moving to the kitchen. She started pulling sandwich fixings from the refrigerator as Fred settled himself on a stool at the island counter.
“James is sick and staying with Mum today so she can’t pick Ben up from school. Would you be able to pick him up and then he can just hang out here until I’m done?”
“Of course. What time is he finished?”
“Three,” Fred answered as he fished a pickle out of the jar. “And I’ll be done at five so I should be back here by half-five.”
Hermione nodded and quirked her lips in contemplation. Her house wasn't exactly kid-friendly. She knew Ben was well out of the stage of accidentally drinking cleaning solution or shoving utensils into electrical sockets but she didn’t often play host to a young audience. In the few months she and Fred had been dating, Ben had been to her place a handful of times and always came prepared with something to entertain himself.
“What’s wrong?” Fred asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Nothing, really. I just don’t know what I should do to entertain a seven-year-old.”
Fred shook his head as he swallowed. “Tell him to do his homework and then turn on the telly. He’s not a complicated kid.”
“I know,” Hermione said, flicking a crisp at his head. “But it would be a good opportunity to bond with him a bit. Maybe we can make cookies together for dessert?”
“I’m sure he’d like that,” Fred said, giving her a smile. He reached over and cupped her face, stroking his thumb across her cheek. “You don’t have to jump through hoops for him. I promise, he likes you.”
Hermione smiled and turned her head, placing a kiss on his palm.
She arrived at Plymouth Preparatory at two forty-five. There was a throng of people pressed against the metal gate so Hermione hung towards the back, feeling like a mosh pit for school pick-up was a bit excessive.
The groundskeeper had just unlocked the gate when the bell rang and seconds later kids began pouring out of the school. Hermione saw Ben running down the steps with his best friends, Katy and Max. She politely pushed her way through and called out, “Ben!”
When Ben turned and saw her, he froze and his face instantly crumpled. By the time she reached him, tears were streaming down his face and Hermione started to panic.
“Ben, sweetheart, what's wrong?” She placed her hands on his shoulders and knelt down. “Are you hurt?”
“What happened to Nana Molly? Is she dead?” Ben sobbed.
“Oh, goodness, no!” Hermione gathered him in her arms and held him tight. “Nana Molly is fine. James is sick so he’s staying with her. She didn’t want you to come over and catch his stomach bug so your dad asked me to pick you up.”
“Are you sure? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?” Ben cried.
“No, sweetheart. I promise, your nan is at home and healthy as ever. You can call and check in with her when we get back to my house if you want.” Hermione pulled a tissue from her purse and handed it to Ben. He blew his nose and then shoved the tissue into his pocket. Hermione cringed slightly but hugged him again until his breathing evened out and he stopped sniffling. When he pulled back, she asked, “Are you ready to go?”
Ben nodded and walked with her out of the school gate. When they got to a safe, unoccupied area, she took his hand and apparated them to her house. As soon as they were inside, Ben ran to the fireplace and floo-called his grandmother. After five minutes of interrogation about her health, he said goodbye and joined Hermione in the kitchen, climbing onto the stool his father had occupied earlier.
“Would you like a snack?”
“Yeah.” Ben propped his elbows up on the counter and let his chin fall into his hands.
“Everything okay?” Hermione took a bag of crisps from the cupboard and poured some into a bowl.
“Nan’s fine. James is chucking his guts up.”
“That’s a lovely thought.” Hermione slid the bowl over to Ben and poured him a cup of pumpkin juice. “Do you have homework?”
“I just have to read two chapters of Stuart Little.”
“I remember reading that book. It was one of my favorites in school. When you’re done, I have some cookie dough ready if you’d like to cut and decorate some Christmas cookies.
“Yeah, okay.”
It didn’t take long for Ben to finish his reading. He then helped Hermione clear off the island and they divided up the sugar cookie dough. Ben seemed to enjoy the activity. He laughed and joked with Hermione but she could tell that something was off. He had the same look Fred did when Fred had something on his mind but didn’t know how to voice it.
Hermione let it go and didn’t push for information until a bit of accidental magic popped the lid off the green sprinkle canister and sent up a stream of sugar crystals to shower down on them. Hermione started to giggle while Ben sat there with a horrified look on his face.
“I’m so sorry!” he said, trying to scoop the sprinkles into a pile.
“It’s fine,” Hermione laughed. She motioned for him to lean forward and said, “Look down.” When he did, she ruffled his hair, spraying the countertop with another layer of sprinkles. “Good thing it wasn’t the icing.”
Hermione cast a cleaning spell, siphoning up the spilled sprinkles and then securing the lid back on the bit still left in the canister.
“You have something on your mind. Want to share?” she asked, settling onto the stool beside Ben.
Ben shook his head. “It’s stupid.”
“If it means something to you then it’s not stupid.”
Ben sighed. “I was just excited to go sledding at Nana Molly’s.”
“Ah. I’m sorry the schedule got changed today. You never can tell when a stomach bug is gonna come along and ruin your day.”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t totally ruined. I liked decorating the cookies.”
“I had a lot of fun decorating them, too.” Hermione smiled and patted his hand. “You sure there isn’t anything else bothering you?”
“Nope. Can I watch telly until Dad comes?”
“Sure.” Hermione gestured towards the living room and Ben dashed away. She wasn’t convinced that there wasn’t more but it wasn’t her place to push.
Just before five-thirty, Hermione heard the floo flare to life and Ben calling out, “Dad!”
“Hey, kidder! How was school?” Fred greeted.
The short conversation between father and son was indistinguishable as the kitchen timer buzzed and Hermione hurried to take the cookies out of the oven.
When Fred came into the kitchen, he kissed Hermione on the cheek. She sat the hot tray down and went to return the kiss only to see Fred giving her a bemused look.
“What?” she asked hesitantly.
“You have green bits in your hair,” Fred said, unable to hide the look of disgust that briefly flashed across his face.
Hermione reached up and patted her hair, her hand coming away covered in green crystals.
“Oh.” She licked her finger and couldn’t help but laugh when Fred’s lip curled and he took a step back. “Just sprinkles.”
“Do I want to know how they got in your hair?”
“Slip of accidental magic,” she explained. She kissed his lips and wiped her hands on his jeans. “Ben seems to have a lot on his mind tonight.”
“Did he say what it is?”
“He said he was disappointed that he didn’t get to go sledding at your parents’ house after school.” Hermione floated the plates and utensils to the table. “But I think there’s more. He broke down when I picked him up at school.”
“Broke down? Crying or screaming?”
“Crying. He thought something was wrong with your mum. He even asked me if she had died.”
“Merlin, the kid has a penchant for the dramatic. Why…” Fred’s face suddenly went pale and he swayed a bit. Hermione grabbed his elbow and guided him to a chair. She knelt in front of him, holding one of his hands. “Shit,” he whispered, rubbing his free hand over his face... “I’m so fucking stupid.”
Hermione frowned but didn’t say anything. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and waited until he could explain.
“I should have contacted the school and had them tell Ben you would be there instead of Mum. I wasn’t thinking.” Fred smacked the heel of his palm against his forehead, causing Hermione to grab that hand, too. Fred looked up at her with glassy eyes. “The last time there was a change like that it was because Rachel had…” His voice choked up and he tried several times to clear it. “I never expected that such a minor change would have that much of an impact on him.”
“Grief is funny like that. You’re not always able to predict what the lasting effects will be or what will trigger them,” Hermione said softly, running her thumbs over his knuckles. “I remember after my grandmother passed, I was shopping with my mum and a woman walked by, wearing the same perfume as my Nan. I broke down crying in the middle of Selfridge’s and Mum had no clue what to do except hug me until I calmed down.
“What did you do for Ben?’
“Hugged him until he calmed down.”
Fred smiled and pulled her into his arms. “Have I told you lately that you’re the best?” he mumbled against her hair.
“Eh, I’m pretty good, I guess.”
“The best,” Fred insisted.