Old Books and Firecrackers: Chapter XVI

A Harry Potter Fanfic

“Okay, your turn, Fred,” Harry said.

“Right. Hmm.” Fred played with the bottle of firewhiskey in front of him. “Time I got in the most trouble with a professor . . . What d’you say, George? I’m thinking that time on the roof in our second year.” George groaned and laid his head on the table.

Angelina shook her head as she handed her empty plate to the Leaky Cauldron’s server. “I still can’t believe you did that.”

“What happened?” Ron asked.

“I was stupid and told them about a muggle fairytale!” Angelina said. “Hermione, you have been warned.”

“I hope you don’t actually think we’re stupid enough to do that now,” George said. Angelina raised her eyebrows skeptically and Fred laughed.

“Which muggle fairytale?” Natalie, Ron’s fiancée, asked.

George shrugged. “I don’t remember the details since it was so long ago, but it had something to do with a carpet that could fly.”

“Arabian Nights?” Hermione asked. Angelina nodded.

“Anyway, we thought it would be fun to enchant some carpets and jump off the roof,” Fred explained.

Hermione covered her mouth with her hands. “You didn’t.”

Ginny grinned and took a sip of her own firewhiskey. “I feel like I remember hearing Mum yell at you about that.”

Fred winced. “You probably did. She was mad about it for a really long time.”

“But you got caught?” Harry asked.

George laughed. “Of course we did. McGonagall saw the two of us and Lee climb up to the roof with an armful of rugs. She knew something was up.”

“Yeah, except I jumped off before she caught us,” Fred said.

“What happened?” Natalie asked.

Hermione gripped his arm too tightly. “Did you get hurt?”

He pried her hand off his arm and slid his fingers between hers. “Yeah, but clearly I didn’t die, so you can stop worrying.” She shoved him and he laughed. “Apparently the rug didn’t like me, though, cause it bucked me off. Luckily I wasn’t too high by that point. I broke a couple bones and apparently got knocked out. When I woke up, McGonagall was livid. I’ve never seen her so angry.”

“At least she had a little time to cool off before she could lecture you,” George said, taking a large sip of his drink.

Angelina glared at them both. “She even got mad at me! She seemed to think I should have known better than to tell you two stories like that.”

George grinned. “You should have.”

She punched his shoulder. “I didn’t at the time!” Everyone laughed.

“What about you, Harry?” George asked.

Harry rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. “Well, three different professors tried to kill me, so I think it’s kind of tied.” Fred laughed and held up his bottle. Harry smirked and toasted him.

“What about you, Hermione?” Natalie asked.

“Oh, Hermione doesn’t get in trouble,” Ron explained. “She’s every professor’s favorite student.”

“Except Slughorn’s,” Ginny said slyly. Harry snorted.

“What? Why not Slughorn’s?” Fred asked, noticing Hermione was now glaring at Harry and Ginny.

“Because Harry cheated,” Hermione said.

“Are you still upset about that?” Ron asked, laughing.

“You cheated? In Potions?” George asked. “Don’t tell McGonagall. She might not let you be a professor.”

“I found Snape’s old textbook,” Harry explained. “I didn’t know it was his, but it had lots of helpful notes in the margins and Slughorn was impressed when I followed them. But, Hermione, he only liked me cause of my mum. He liked you cause you were a good student.”

“Just like in every class,” Ron said, tipping his chair back. “Answering every question. The only one who knew what felix felicis was, or amortentia, or–” he dropped all the legs of the chair back to the floor and sat forward. “Hang on! You never said what the amortentia smelled like.”

Hermione’s face grew slightly pink. “Yes I did.”

Natalie’s eyes widened. “Did you have to tell what it smelled like in class?”

Ron shook his head. “No, after she explained what it did, she just started listing the things it smelled like, but there was one she wouldn’t tell the class. What was it?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Liar,” Fred said, poking her arm. “What was it?”

Hermione frowned and picked up her drink. “Doesn’t matter.”

“But–” Ron began, but Natalie nudged him.

“She probably has a reason she doesn’t want to say,” Natalie said. “And, anyway, it’s my turn, right?”

Fred couldn’t get the question out of his head the rest of the night. When they left the quadruple date (was that a thing?) and headed home, he asked about it again.

“So what did you smell back then?”

She found the key in her bag and let them both in. “Does it matter?”

He slid his arms around her from behind as they stepped inside and he kicked the door closed behind them. “You know what I smelled. It’s only fair!” She closed her eyes and grinned and he knew he had won. “Hermione,” he said, stretching out her name.

“Firecrackers.”

He paused. “Wait, really?”

“Yes. Uhg, I’m going to regret this so much.” She pulled out of his arms and sat down to take her shoes off.

“Yes! I knew it!”

She looked up and cocked an eyebrow. “You knew I smelled firecrackers?”

“No, I knew you were just pretending not to like mine and George’s pranks!”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“But you just said you smelled firecrackers.”

“Yes . . .”

“So that’s from us, right?”

She sighed and leaned back against her chair. “You smell like firecrackers.”

He frowned. “I–what?”

She shrugged. “Well, not so much anymore, but when you were younger, you always smelled like firecrackers and explosions. You didn’t know?” He shook his head and she laughed. “You must be deaf. Your mum was constantly complaining about it. She could never get the smell out of your clothes.”

“So–so you didn’t actually smell firecrackers?” She shook her head. “You actually smelled me?”

She grinned. “Now you’ve got it.”

A broad smile spread across his face. “So–so you must have really liked me then.”

She laughed, leaning her head on the back of the chair and covering her face with her hands. “Fred, we’ve been married for two months. If you haven’t figured out I like you yet, we have a problem.”

“No, no, I know.” He was still grinning foolishly. He squeezed beside her in the chair. “But that potion makes you smell your favorite things, right?”

“Yes. You, Fred Weasley, are my favorite thing.” She kissed his cheek and then laughed. “You’re also ridiculous.”

“I know.” He took her hand. “I love you.” He cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her. She was grinning when he pulled away.

“I love you too.”

The End