Old Books and Firecrackers: Chapter XV

A Harry Potter Fanfic

Three Years Later

Fred woke to the sound of voices, which was unusual. George hated having the radio on, so their flat was usually quiet in the mornings.

He sat up and yawned. Maybe George had decided he liked the radio again and just hadn’t mentioned it. It wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened.

“Good morning, Fred,” a voice said as he came out of his room. He spun around and blinked sleepily at the girl on the couch with George. Angelina smirked. “Nice pajamas.”

He rolled his eyes and went to pour a bowl of cereal. “Morning, Angelina.” He sat in a chair across from them and flicked a piece of cereal at George. “I’m moving out.” George smirked.

“So how long have you been here, Angelina?” Fred asked.

“A couple of hours. Do you always sleep this late?”

“Only when my dear brother keeps me up late working. Of course, if I had known you were coming, I’d have been up earlier, but it seems George doesn’t like to tell me things.” He threw another piece of cereal at his brother.

“Well, I should probably go,” Angelina stood up and grabbed her bag. “I just stopped by to say hi . . .”

“And stayed for two hours,” Fred muttered. She glared and he flashed an innocent smile.

The rest of the morning, George kept shooting Fred furtive looks. When Fred caught George glancing at him for the fifth time in the last hour, he slammed his notebook on the table.

“Yes, I was serious!” George flinched when he shouted. “Let’s be honest. We weren’t going to live together our whole lives. I’ll start looking this week–”

“I’ll look. I’m the one who should–”

“I said I’m moving out, so that’s what I’m going to do. If you want to find someplace else and we’ll give up the flat, that’s fine by me, but otherwise, just keep it.”

“Sorry,” George muttered.

“If I sound upset, it’s because you’ve been driving me crazy acting so nervous all day. It’s not a big deal,” Fred said.

To no one’s surprise, George and Angelina announced their engagement a week later.

“But where are you going to go?” Fred’s mum asked him when she finally got him alone.

“I’ve been looking around a bit . . .” That was only sort of true. He was actually trying to work up the courage to ask Ron if he could move in with him.

She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it and turned around.

“What is it, Mum?”

“I was only thinking that it’s been rather quiet around the house since Ron and Ginny moved out and–well, if you wanted to, maybe you could come back home. Just for a while, you know. Until you find somewhere else.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to–”

“I’m sure.”

Fred hugged his mum. “Thanks. That sounds great.”

Fred had never appreciated how much George mediated between him and their mum until he wasn’t around to do it. Fred had been living with his parents again for the past six months and couldn’t go a day without arguing with his mother.

Hermione kept trying to convince him to move out, but every time he told her he didn’t want to live alone. She didn’t understand. How could she? She didn’t know that the idea of coming home every night to an empty flat reminded him too much of his nightmares.

Besides, if his mum wasn’t complaining, why should she?

“Fred, could you get the door? It looks like someone’s here,” his mum said.

He opened the door to find Hermione. “Hello, love. How are you?”

She hugged him. “Hello, Fred. I’m good. Hi, Mrs. Weasley.”

“Hello, Hermione dear. I didn’t know you were coming.”

Hermione smiled and gave his mum a hug. “I came to ask Fred if he wanted to go out for a little while?” She looked away too quickly. She was up to something.

“Sure. Sounds fun,” he said.

“You two have fun, then,” his mum said as they left.

Fred took Hermione’s hand. “Where are we going?”

“Leaky Cauldron for something to drink and then I thought we could walk around for a bit.”

When they had bought their drinks, Fred grinned. “So where are we really going?”

“I told you. We’ll just walk around.”

Fred slung his arm over her shoulders as they walked. “You can’t fool me. You’re planning something.”

She pursed her lips. “Fine, I was going to show you a flat for sale.”

“Are you offering to live there with me, then?” The question slipped out.

She choked on her drink. “What?”

He pulled his arm off her and shrugged. “I keep telling you I don’t want to live by myself, and now you’re offering to go look at a place together. What else am I supposed to think besides you’re suggesting we get married?”

“What? That’s not–no–we can’t just–”

“We could. We’re plenty old enough and we’ve been dating for three years.”

She gaped at him and then her face grew stormy. “No! I’m not marrying you just because you don’t want to live by yourself.” She stomped off.

“Wait, Hermione! I’m sorry!” He ran to catch up with her and then walked backwards to face her. “I was just teasing. I love you and I really do want to marry you. I’ve been considering asking you for a while, and not because I don’t want to live by myself. I was just trying to tease you, and I–I messed up. I’m sorry.”

She dropped her eyes and slowed down, allowing him to fall back into step beside her. She didn’t say anything.

“Of course, if–if you don’t want to–”

“I didn’t say that.”

He smiled. “So you do want to?”

“I didn’t say that either.” She sighed. “It’s just . . . kind of sudden . . .”

“Not really.” She glared at him. “Sorry.”

“I–” She laughed. “This was not how I was expecting today to go.”

He grinned. “And you always have to have a plan, right?” She frowned. “I’m not making fun of you!” he protested. It’s true, isn’t it?"

“I guess.”

He took her hand. “That’s fine. What if I ask again later to give you time to think about it?”

She gave a slight smile. “Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Of course.” He stepped behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and rested his chin on her shoulder. “So are we still going to look at that flat?”

“No, because you’ll probably embarrass me the whole time.”

He grinned. “Probably.”

Why couldn’t he relax? He had already proposed once, so why was he so nervous this time?

Hermione had been talking incessantly about the park they were in: its history and all the times she and her family had come when she was a kid. He felt bad for not listening, but every time he tried, he got nervous and distracted again.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “I feel like you haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been a little distracted today.”

She took his hand. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” He should ask. Go ahead and ask. “There’s just, um, something I wanted to ask you.” He pulled the small box out of his pocket and knelt down. Hermione stared at the box, then her face lit up into a smile.

He tried to open the box, fumbled with it–

And dropped the ring.

“Oh, Merlin’s–” he broke off as he got down on both knees and hands, searching for a glint of gold in the grass.

How hard was it to find a ring in a small patch of grass? Apparently very. Where was the stupid thing?

“Accio.” A flash of gold flew out of the grass, past his face, and into Hermione’s hand. She looked like she was biting back a laugh. He must look ridiculous.

She held it out to him and he forced a grin. “I think I’m supposed to give that to you,” he said. He let her keep the ring, afraid he’d drop it again.

“Hermione, I want to marry you and, no, wait, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I, uh, this went a lot smoother in my head last night . . . I love you . . .” The words tumbled out and he couldn’t stop them. “Will you marry me?”

Hermione slid the ring on her finger, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to his feet. “Yes! Yes, I will.”

He let out a sigh a relief. “Oh, good. I was afraid I’d botched that up terribly.”

She laughed and kissed him. When she pulled away, she smiled. “And I love you too.”

He kissed her again and took her hand. They continued walking through the park holding hands until dinner time when Fred took her home and then went home himself.

He managed to forget about ruining the proposal until he got home and noticed the grass stains all over the muggle pants he had worn to fit in. He muttered a stream of curses as he tried to fix them.

“Fred!” his mum shouted from the other room.

“Sorry, Mum!” It was moments like these that had always made him and George think they had inherited the “inner eye” as Trelawney liked to call it from their mother.

When his clothes were mostly clean, he left his room. “I’m going to George’s,” he called as he passed the living room.

“But it’s supper time,” his mum said.

“He won’t care.”

“Angelina might.”

“No she won’t.” At least, he hoped not. He apparated to the flat and knocked.

George opened the door. “Hey, Fred. You here for–what’s wrong?” He opened it wider to let Fred in.

“I proposed to Hermione,” Fred said as he came inside. George gestured to the table and he sat down.

George sat across from him. “She–she didn’t say no, did she?”

“She said yes.”

“That’s great! Congratualtions! So why do you look like Moaning Myrtle?”

Fred leaned back in his chair and groaned. “Because I’m an idiot.”

George winced. “Sorry. I tried to hide it from you as long as I could, but these things tend to come out eventually . . .” he trailed off as Fred glared. “Sorry. Continue. An idiot?” He propped his chin on his hand.

They were interrupted by the sound of a key in the lock and Angelina came inside. “Hi, Fred. Are you staying for supper?”

“If that’s alright.”

“Of course it is.” She frowned at him. “Is something wrong?”

George leaned back in his chair to kiss her cheek as she walked past. “Apparently he asked Hermione to marry him, she said yes, and he’s an idiot.” He ticked the items off on his fingers. “That’s all that’s been established so far.”

“I see.” She sat down. “That’s exciting that you two are getting married. So why are you an idiot?”

Fred covered his face with his hands. “I was trying to propose, but I got really nervous, and I–I dropped the ring.” He glanced up to see Angelina and George exchange a look.

“But it’s not like you lost it,” Angelina said. “If that’s all–”

“I did lose it,” Fred interrupted. “Hermione had to summon it because I couldn’t think to pull out my wand. And then I couldn’t even ask her to marry me right!”

“So?” George asked. “Everybody gets nervous. It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry about it.”

“She was also laughing at me,” Fred said.

Angelina laughed. “Stop worrying so much. Even if she was laughing, I doubt she cared about you dropping the ring. Besides, she said yes, didn’t she?”

“Well, yes, but–”

“Trust me, Fred. Don’t worry,” she said.

“How do you know she didn’t care?”

She laughed again. “Because I know her, and I know I wouldn’t have minded either.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

Fred leaned back and sighed. “Okay. That makes me feel better.”

“Hey!” George protested. “How come you didn’t believe me?”

“Because you’re not a girl.” George laughed.

Angelina grinned and stood up. “Alright then. Who’s hungry?”

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