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It was cold, a brisk December afternoon that was even now fading into what would be a frigid evening. The sky was gray with the promise of more snow to add to what was already piled on the sidewalks where the city workers could hardly keep up with it. Hermione walked as fast as she could, continuously checking her watch as she went, brushing past people who were all hurrying about as well, muttering rushed apologies, and trying to at least pretend she had enough composure not to start running. She could still see the bright, colorful lights of the toy store after all.
Even as she had that thought, the lights of the large toy jack in the box, a sign towering above all others on that street, flickered- as if shivering in the cold- and went out. Her heart dropped and she ran the rest of the way, across the busy street where she was honked at by the cars that almost hit her, and to the door of the rather large shop just as the girl inside was turning the sign from Open to Closed .
“No! No, no, no,” she cried out. “Please! Please, I just need one thing and I know exactly what it is.”
The girl shrugged with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry, ma’am. We’re closed, and we even stayed open later than our normal hours for the holiday. There’s nothing I can do.”
Hermione knew she was in the wrong. She hadn’t meant to lose track of time, but she had what could possibly be the biggest case of her career- one that could make her a partner- just after the holidays, and all of the work that came with it. She’d still had mountains of legal texts to go through when one of the firm’s partners stopped by her office to tell her they were heading out, and would she please lock up when she went home. The reminder and name of the toy were written on a piece of paper and everything, a piece of paper she clutched now as she sighed heavily and pressed her back to the cold brick, sliding down to sit on the cold, snowy sidewalk. People walked around her as if she weren’t there, with only a few noticing her just long enough to cast her a dirty glance.
“Well done,” she chided herself, ignoring them. “You had one thing, one thing , and you’ve bollocks’d it up. Harry is never going to trust you to do anything ever again, Teddy will grow up thinking you don’t care about him, and you will die alone.”
“You know they say the real trouble is when you start answering yourself as well,” an amused voice told her.
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to glare at them. “Look, I’ve had a bad enough day without you-”
She cut herself off at the good natured smile on the man’s, if she was honest with herself, rather handsome face. He was tall, with red hair and luminous brown eyes. He was wearing a purple suit, standing in the now opened door of the toy shop with the girl she’d spoken to before standing behind him.
He put his hands up in surrender, though he was still smiling, and said, “I couldn’t tell. I always sit in the snow and sulk when I’ve had a good day. It keeps things interesting.”
Hermione fought the urge to smile, turning the motion into the deepest frown she could manage and averting her face with a dramatic sniff. “Well, you could always join me. There’s certainly enough snow.”
“Rather presumptuous to assume I’ve had a good day, isn’t it?”
That made her laugh, hard enough that the snow beneath her shifted and she sank a little more. He laughed too, walking over to her.
“Here, let me help you up.”
“Thanks,” she said genuinely, taking his hand- it was very warm, even through her gloves- and he pulled her to her feet. Her heart fluttered in her chest with the movement.
He smiled at her, or maybe he hadn’t stopped smiling, and brushed some snow off of her shoulder. “Anytime. Dragons, towers, jaws of death; there are worse ways to rescue fair maidens.”
“Well, I don’t know how much of a rescue it really was,” she said, brushing the snow off of her skirt. “I wasn’t going to freeze to death.”
“I could always put you back,” he offered.
She laughed again.
He was even more charming close up. There was a mischief in his eyes that made her want to be silly, made her want to laugh. He seemed to be looking into her soul, and in such a coy, suggestive way that she wasn't sure if he was going to make some sort of move on her or perhaps challenge her with one of the foam swords she had been able to see through the window.
He smelled like candy.
“Verity told me you seemed stressed,” he nodded towards the blonde girl still standing in the store’s doorway. He continued dramatically, “Having rescued you from certain, freezing death, I feel it is my duty to help you find what you needed so badly you were willing to sacrifice yourself to begin with.”
“That would be a rescue,” she admitted, her relief apparent in each word. “I promise it will only take a minute. I know exactly what I’m looking for.”
“Take your time,” he said, suddenly serious with his eyes boring into hers. “I’m in no rush."
He went back over to the door, holding it open with one hand and using the other to gesture Hermione in. She smiled gratefully, ducking under his arm and into the warm shop. She shivered at how warm it was. And it was wonderful. There were large displays of large, fantastical toys. Child sized dragons in varying colors suspended from the ceiling in an unbelievable mobile, the wires of which were so thin she couldn't quite make them out so that it looked as though they were actually flying overhead.
She wished there had been such a toy shop when she was a child, and had she been so inclined to dream up the perfect toy shop then it would have looked like this in every way. She could see why it was Teddy’s favorite.
Hermione slowly, still mesmerized, slipped her gloves off and stuffed them into the pocket of her coat.
"You’re welcome to head on home for the day, Verity,” she overheard him say.
“Thanks,” the girl told him. Hermione turned just in time to see her grab her purse and coat from beside the door and slipped through the still held open door, into the still heavy stream of people on the street.
The man, she still didn't know his name, closed the door behind her and latched it- and it was just the two of them. Strangely, Hermione had the presence of mind to realize she should be the slightest bit anxious. She was always very careful, these days people had to be, and it suddenly struck her that being alone in a shop with a stranger who just locked the door behind them was not being careful. Yet, she could not make herself feel nervous. There was something about him that made her comfortable, made her feel safe.
Yes, she thought to herself. I’m sure they’ll put that on your headstone. Here lies Hermione Jean Granger, she felt safe.
The man cleared his throat and she jerked, her eyes meeting his again. He asked, “Are you alright?”
She nodded, forcing a smile. “Absolutely. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this-”
“Fred.”
She blinked, her heart melting a little at the sincerity that came off of him in waves. Even as he told her his name, he seemed perfectly in tune with himself and the universe while giving her a lopsided grin.
“Fred,” she repeated to herself, holding her hand out. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Fred.”
“The pleasure’s all mine,” he said, taking her hand and shaking it. It was still warm, warmer she supposed since she was no longer wearing her gloves, and firm. They were overly strong, as though he did a lot of hard, manual labor, but they weren’t soft either.
He was still holding her hand, his eyebrows raised, and she realized he was waiting for her to introduce herself as well.
“Hermione!” Her own name burst out of her mouth, far too loud as if the volume would make up for the awkward pause there where she’d just been thinking about his hands.
Fred shook her hand again. “Hermione. Beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”
Added to the embarrassment from before, the compliment threw her off guard in such a way that she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. What was the proper response? She was sure it wasn’t letting go of his hand and looking away, but that was what she did anyway.
“This is magnificent,” she told him, gesturing to the store and hoping he would take the subject change and run away with her. With it . She hoped he’d run away with it , and by it she meant the subject change.
“Is this your first time?”
Acting like a complete moron in a social setting because she had absolutely no grasp of how to actually deal with people? No, unfortunately that was a regular occurrence.
She cleared her throat, hiding her anxiety by tucking a wisp of hair, which had in all of this escaped her bun, behind her ear. “In a toy store, or in this one specifically?”
He shrugged, watching her pleasantly. “Either.”
She began leisurely walking down the first aisle. “It’s my first time here. It’s my godson’s favorite place, however. He talks about it all the time.”
“Is he who you’re here for? Not your own child?”
She looked back just in time to see him glance down at her left hand and back up to her face. She turned away and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
“I don’t have any children,” she said. “Just my godson. My friend and I take care of him together, and he’s the one that asked me to pick this up in particular after work.”
“I see,” and he began walking the aisle adjacent to hers, keeping in step with her. Between the toys she could see him smiling at the carpet with his hands behind his back as he walked.
“What about you?” Hermione hoped she didn’t sound too eager. They reached the end of their respective aisles, a couple feet away from each other and he looked over at her, feigning shock at the question with one hand on his chest and eyes wide.
“Moi?”
Hermione smirked at him. “Oui.”
He turned on his heel, she did the same, and they each started down a different aisle than before- still in step with one another.
“No kids either,” he told her. “I do have two nieces, and two nephews on the way. I come from a large family, so there is no shortage of children in my future, even if they aren’t mine.”
“I’ll bet you’ll be their favorite uncle,” she said as they reached another aisle end. “You work in the best toy shop I’ve ever seen.”
His eyebrow raised, smirking over at her and making her stomach flip. Like he knew something she didn’t, and he thought her ignorance was cute. “It’s an honor I hope I’ll experience. It would certainly drive my brother insane. What about your family?”
She smiled, turning around and starting down the next aisle, while he retraced the one she’d just left. “I’m an only child, though my best friend has always been like a brother to me. We met at school and my parents have practically adopted him as well.”
“Are you close to them? Your parents?”
Hermione could see him through the toys, and he kept looking over at her between- meeting her eye for the briefest moment. She shrugged. “Not as close as I used to be, but I suppose that’s how it goes. Large family, are you close to yours?”
“Even if I wasn’t, or didn’t want to be, I wouldn’t have a choice. Mum is the overbearing type, if you know what I mean, but she means well. We have dinner evey Sunday.”
“That sounds nice. Most of the time it’s just my godson, my best friend, and I. Teddy’s parents died just before I graduated university, so Harry and I thought it would be easiest to move in together to raise him.”
“Earlier, when you were talking to yourself, you said Harry would never trust you to do anything ever again.”
Hermione paused at the end of another aisle. “I’m not the best at gift giving, but Harry is. He usually does all of the Christmas and birthday present shopping, but he was busy today, so he asked me to grab something for Teddy.”
Fred walked slowly over towards her. “You never actually told me what that was, you know.”
“Hmm? Oh! Right.” She pulled the slip of paper out of her coat pocket and read it aloud. “Seems he wants a…. Oh! I remember us talking about this. He said Teddy showed a particular interest in your space section.”
“Our junior astronauts,” he nodded. “‘For a future among the stars’. It’s a popular line. I’ll show you where it is.”
It was a beautiful display, with beach ball sized models of planets and stars and moons. There were astronaut suits, toy rockets, make your own alien slime; the selection was wide and just as charming as the man showing it to her. She grabbed what she needed and walked with Fred to the registers.
“I hope he enjoys it,” Fred told her as he handed her the paper bag, his hand brushing hers. “You’ll have to let me know.”
“I will,” she promised, wishing she needed something else. She’d rarely met anyone she liked so completely, so immediately.
He escorted her to the door, pausing when he unlocked it, before he opened it for her. It had gotten dark in the seemingly short time she’d been in the store with him. There were still a few people on the street, but not as many as before.
It was snowing.
“Well, thank you,” she said. “It was a pleasure being rescued by you, even if you didn’t risk dragons, towers, or jaws of death.”
“Believe me,” there was no hint of amusement in his voice, only sincerity, “the pleasure was completely mine, Hermione.”
She hummed, smiling and tucking that whisp back behind her ears. She stepped back, starting to leave. “Well, I’ll see you around.”
He waved. “Absolutely.”
Hermione turned away from him and somehow felt bereft, putting one foot in front of the other and starting to walk away. She did glance over her shoulder, turning away again when she saw him doing the same thing. She thought about going back and asking him to have coffee with her, but then she thought better of it. However delightful she found meeting him to be, however wonderful she suspected him to be, he was a stranger. She barely knew him.
So she went home.
Fred tried to stop thinking of her, and it should have been easy. This was always their busiest time, as one can imagine. They were swamped from open to close, for the next month. People came early, and more than just a few times he or George came downstairs to open the shop only to find that there was already a line of people waiting at the door.
Hermione was never one of them.
They stayed late. Despite the later hours they were staying open, they were having to shoo people out after they closed, and people always came after closing for ‘just one item I swear’.
None of them were half as lovely as she had been.
Toys sold out, and he found himself thinking how lucky Hermione had been to get in when she did. The junior astronaut line was one of the first to sell out. He thought about her everytime someone came to his register with something from that section. He thought about how pretty her smile was, how lonely it felt when he watched her walk away- her red coat bright in the snow.
Lonely was not a familiar sensation. Not when he and George moved out of their childhood home, not when George married Angelina. Not even when George moved out of their apartments above the toy shop, he hardly even noticed since George was always there anyway. But now…. now he felt the heaviness of it in the evenings when it was just him, the mornings cooking breakfast for just him, and sometimes in between when he had a moment to think on it.
“You okay, Freddie?”
“Okay, Georgie,” he flashed a grin at George, who joined him as he reshelved the stuffed animals on aisle seven.
This was one of the aisles Hermione had walked with him, smiling and blushing at him over the heads of the stuffed unicorns and sloths and elephants.
“You’ve been distracted,” George said.
“Distracted?” He scoffed, pausing to look at him. “How?”
“When I asked you how you slept you didn’t tell me to ask my wife.”
Fred blushed a little, laughing and standing up. “Yeah, well, maybe I’ve evolved beyond such base levels of humor.”
He could feel George’s doubtful expression. He went over to restack the jack in the box display, which was the struggle of being a toy shop that encouraged patrons to enjoy themselves and test products.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t, but Angelina thinks it’s a girl.”
Fred’s hand slipped and knocked over the level he was doing, one of the boxes bursting open and startling him. “A girl ?”
“Yes, a girl . You’ve been daydreaming, distracted, and sometimes you’ve got this silly smile. So, what’s her name?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He didn’t know why he didn’t say anything to George about it. George was the first one he told when he had his first kiss, his first time, every crush when they were kids, but somehow this felt different. This felt private, like that small warmth was only meant for him.
And maybe Hermione.
George must have known, or at least recognized that Fred wasn’t ready to explain, because he changed the subject. “Did you get my text about the toy event for that group home? The social worker organizing it reached out to our email.”
“Yeah, I saw it. Verity’s staying late putting together a list, and I sent her out for more wrapping paper earlier. I’ll probably start wrapping after we’re done resetting everything.”
“I’ll text Angelina let her know I’m staying late to help.”
Fred shrugged. “You don’t have to do that. I know Angelina’s getting close to the due date. Go home to her.”
George watched him closely, determining whether or not he should push and insist. Instead he nodded. “Alright, Fred. If you’re sure.”
“Of course, George.”
Again, he wasn’t sure why he didn’t let George stay and help. Maybe it was because for all that he loved his brother, he actually enjoyed the rare moment to himself- performing a monotonous motion over and over that he could take pride in without having to think too much about it. Maybe it was because even being alone with George was somehow worse than being a third wheel, listening to him go on about his wife or watching him watch the clock until he could go home to her. It was sweet, and Fred was happy for them both, but lately it was more difficult to stomach.
Maybe he was just distracted.
Maybe it was a girl.
Two days before Christmas.
It was an excellent turn out, and Hermione was so proud of Harry for having put it together. They’d taken turns taking Teddy to work with them so he would have time to see vendors, talk to volunteers, schedule and coordinate with the group homes that Harry worked closest with.
Children of varying ages shrieked and ran around them, weaving through the booths handing out hot chocolate and fudge and candy. There was a coat drive, sign up sheets for after school programs, a silent auction for charity, and of course the cinchpin wherein Harry was able to convince a toy shop to donate.
Hermione had Teddy in her sights at all times while he played with the other kids and Harry went around making sure everything was as it was supposed to be, when he wasn’t playing with the kids. It was a nice time.
Harry was passionate about his job, about helping people. He wanted to make sure no child ever had to go through what he had to, and he was good at it. Hermione could see, every time she came to these events he put together, how much good he provided and how the children looked at him as though he were some hero.
She could admit that he kind of was.
She watched him pick Teddy up, laughing, and come up to her. She took their godson from him, smoothing his hair out of his eyes and making a comment that he needed a trim.
“They’re going to start passing out presents here in a moment,” Harry said, nudging her over towards one of the picnic tables so he could sit down. “Seems Mr and Mr Weasley get really into the holiday spirit, if you know what I mean.”
He looked at Teddy pointedly.
She brightened. “S-A-N-T-A?”
Harry nodded, chugging the rest of the hot chocolate she had in her cup and slapping it back down like it was a shot. He did that everytime he finished a drink, with that exaggerated, satisfied exhale and lipsmacking that made her roll her eyes and smile.
“You’re a child,” she told him.
He simply grinned back, opening his arms to take Teddy back.
“I wanna play some more,” the five year old announced with a slight pout, struggling to be let down.
“Hold on, Teddy,” she crouched to pull his coat tighter around him. “They’re about to start handing out presents. You don’t want to miss that , do you?”
“No, but-but I wanna play.”
Harry set him down. “Just a few more minutes, okay, Teddy? And then I will hear no more arguing. You can play more after presents.”
Teddy was off again like a shot and Hermione sighed, sitting across from Harry so she could watch. “You are such a pushover.”
“At least I don’t smother him.”
“I do not smother him!” She huffed at the expression he gave her, setting her chin in her hand and leaning on it. “I just want to make sure he isn’t getting too cold.”
“I doubt he’d even notice.”
A familiar looking man walked up to them, up to Harry, wearing the most hideous sweater she’d ever seen- a reindeer knitted pattern with a large red bell for a nose and antlers sewn onto the shoulder points as if the animal were leaping from the garment. Her heart skipped and sank into her stomach.
“Fred?”
The man looked over at her and she realized her mistake, but it was him. Wasn’t it? She was sure, but there was something missing in his eyes when he saw her. The mischief was there, but… something else was missing and she wasn’t quite sure what it was. He wore Fred’s face well enough, raised his brow at her just like he did.
“George, actually. Fred’s my brother.”
“He neglects to say his twin,” Harry informed her. “What is it?”
George gestured towards where the stage had been erected for the event. “We’re ready when you are.”
Harry clapped his hands loudly and rubbed them together, beaming over at her. “Then I guess it’s showtime. You’ll grab Teddy?”
“We’ll be up in a mo’,” she said.
Her head was in a spin as she stood up and walked towards her godson. Did that mean Fred would be here? It had to, didn’t it? She felt ridiculous now that she thought about it; Weasley’s Wee Whims, Mr and Mr Weasley, Fred’s knowing look when she implied he simply worked there. So he and his brother owned the store, and his brother was here, so that meant he had to be.
Teddy didn’t resist, armed with the enthusiasm of impending present presentation. He told her in great detail how one of the big kids let loose the secret that Santa Claus had arrived. He wanted to meet him, completely forgetting the trip they’d taken to the mall a few weeks before to have his picture taken with the legend.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Harry’s eyes were bright and she tell he was starting to feel overwhelmed by the situation, both the overstimulation from so many people and the emotion that always hit him at these things. “Before we get to our main event, I would like to just take a moment to thank everyone for being here. I know that some people might look at this and say it’s just hot chocolate, it’s just a toy, it’s just one day- but it’s more than that. This is a memory that will last much longer than any of that, it’s a moment, a day we can give back and show these children that they matter. That someone out there cares about them, and cares what happens to them. And that, my friends- for you are all my friends from this moment one- is everything.”
Teddy touched her face and she looked down at him. “Why are you crying, Aunt Mione?”
She sniffed and smiled at him, holding him tight and kissing his face. “I’m just really happy, baby, and I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
The joy on the kid’s faces as they unwrapped their presents was humbling, inspiring, and somehow just a little bit inadequate. She was so proud of her best friend, so proud of all he’d done today- knowing full well he’d do it again and again and again, because that was who he was.
She recognized Fred the moment he walked out, in full Santa regalia complete with a beard so real she was almost certain he’d grown it himself and just dyed it white. She was sure he noticed her too, winking at her from behind the wire frame glasses he was wearing for the part. He kept glancing over at her too, and somehow she knew he’d been thinking about her just as much as she had been thinking about him.
She’d taken Teddy up to see him and get the beautifully wrapped gift, that was momentarily forgotten in favor of the fact that Santa called him by name . Fred made Teddy’s year in a moment, and therefore hers.
“I’ve come to rescue fair maiden,” a voice behind her said while she watched Harry and Teddy engage with the other children.
Hermione was grinning before she even turned around. He’d done away with the costume, wearing an equally ugly sweater than that of his twin. He had two cups of hot cocoa.
“Rescue me?” She feigned confusion. “Rescue me from what exactly?”
“Thirst?” He suggested, holding the second cup out for her to take.
She took it, still smiling. “Presumptuous, though, isn’t it? To assume I’m thirsty at all?”
He nodded, very understanding. “Well in that case, perhaps I could rescue you from boredom? You see, I know this toy store.”
“Toy store?” She echoed. “Aren’t we both a bit old for such things?”
“Are you?” He smirked, a challenge, and that phenomenon from before sparkled in his eyes. Was he going to kiss her, or was he going to throw a snowball at her? “Besides, I hear the owner is an excellent cook.”
Her heart pounded louder, harder in her chest. “Is that so?”
He shook his head. “Not really, no. But! He is excellent at ordering take out.”
Hermione laughed wholeheartedly. “Now that sounds like my kind of person. Think you could make introductions?”
“I think I could arrange that.”
It was the best hot chocolate she’d ever had.