Old Books and Firecrackers: Chapter IX

A Harry Potter Fanfic

Out of School

“Mr. Weasley, your family is here!” Verity called.

Fred spun around and saw his mum and dad staring in wonder at the shop. Ron and Ginny were wandering the aisles. Harry and Hermione had barely gotten through the door before they were sidetracked by the Patented Daydream Charms.

He greeted his parents and walked over to Harry and Hermione in time to hear Hermione say, “This is really impressive magic!”

Fred beamed. “For that, Hermione, you can have one for free!” She and Harry spun around and he saw a deep purple bruise on her face. “What happened to your eye?”

“Your punching telescope.”

“Oh, blimey, I forgot about those.” Fred dug around in his pockets. He found the bruise removing cream and handed it to her. “Here you are.”

She looked at it suspiciously. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

His smile slipped. Didn’t she trust him? “Of course! C’mon, Harry, I want to show you something.”

They ran into George in the back room and the two of them showed Harry the products on their way to the Ministry.

Harry wouldn’t take the things they offered him. It took a few minutes simply to convince him to take a couple Decoy Detonators. When they came out, Fred found Hermione and Ginny still staring at the Daydream Charms.

“These look amazing,” Ginny said.

“I know! How on earth did they make them?” Hermione asked. It was strange hearing her compliment him and George.

“Haven’t you ladies found our Wonder Witch products?” Fred asked, taking their shoulders and leading them over to the product he knew would drive Hermione most crazy: love potions.

“Do they work?” Ginny asked while Hermione glared daggers at him.

Fred smirked. “Of course.”

“But we’re not selling them to our sister,” George said, appearing beside them. Fred realized his mistake. Hermione would despise the potions, but Ginny might decide to test one. Luckily the Pygmy Puffs drew her away.

Fred and George showed their parents around the shop. Their mum was impressed, making Fred happier than he could remember feeling in the past year.

He looked around for Ron to make sure he wasn’t trying to steal anything and realized that he, along with Harry and Hermione had disappeared. He helped a few customers check items out, including Ginny with her new Pygmy Puff, before the three returned.

Fred snuck up behind Hermione, now looking at spell-checking quills. “Where did you disappear to?” he whispered in her ear.

She spun around, eyes wide, then relaxed when she saw him grinning. “What do you mean?”

“Come off it. I know you, Harry, and Ron snuck out. Where’d you go?”

She returned to the quills. “Nowhere important.”

He shrugged. “Fine. What do you think of our love potions?” She gave a sideways glare and he laughed. “That’s better. You’ve been giving us too many compliments and it had me worried, but there’s the Hermione I know and love.”

She blushed and snatched up a box, reading the label. “For your information, I’ve always found your magic impressive, just not always safe.”

Oh. “Thanks, Hermione.”

She put the box back on the shelf and he realized she wasn’t holding anything else. “Did you not want the Daydream Charm?”

She turned to face him. “I thought you were joking.”

“Of course not! You should take one.”

She hesitated. “I don’t have money to pay for it, and I don’t want to just take it–”

“I want you to take it, in return for your feedback; any recommendations or complaints. That can be your payment.”

“Why not ask Ginny? I’m sure she’d love it if you asked her.”

“I want you to do it.”

She smiled. “If you’re sure . . .”

“I’m sure. If George asks about it, tell him I gave it to you to review.”

“Thanks.”

He noticed his family starting to file out the door. “I think you’re getting left behind.”

“Oh!” She ran after them, pausing to grab the charm and wave on her way out. “Bye!”

“See you later!”

“C’mon, Hermione. You should play with us. Then we’ll have even teams.” Fred grinned down at where Hermione was reading.

She shook her head. “You don’t want me to play. I’m terrible at quidditch.” They had been having the same argument on and off for the past hour. Fred and George had come home to visit the weekend before Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left and they had all decided to play quidditch.

“Who cares? Having three players is better than two, even if one of them’s not great. Besides, you can play opposite Ron and it’ll work out.”

“Hey!” Ron shouted.

“C’mon, Hermione. It’ll be fun,” Ginny said. Harry and George both chimed in their agreement and she hesitantly stood up.

“Fine.”

She joined Fred and Ginny’s team, with Harry, Ron, and George playing against them. She was right. She really was terrible. She never caught the quaffle when it came near her, and she could barely throw it back when she needed to. Fred tried to give her some pointers, but stopped when she glared at him.

“It’s getting late,” Hermione said when the sun hung over the treetops. “Maybe we should head back inside.”

“Five more minutes,” Ginny said, tossing the quaffle to Hermione, who fumbled with it and dropped it. She barely managed to pick it up again before Harry grabbed it.

“Hermione, over here!” Fred waved his hands in the air. She threw it too far to the right and he flew over to try to catch it, but misjudged the distance and it hit him in the face. “Ouch!”

“Oh, Fred, I’m so sorry!”

“Sure you are,” he said with a grin as he rubbed his eye. He was going to have a nasty bruise there later. “This definitely wasn’t revenge for the telescope, right?” He got off his broom and started inside to look for the bruise removing cream. When everyone else began to follow, he waved them away. “I’m just looking for something to put on it. You guys can keep playing.”

Hermione followed him inside. He assumed it was because they didn’t need her anymore to make even teams, but she followed him all the way upstairs.

“I really am sorry.”

Fred laughed as he searched through the boxes of junk piled in his and George’s old room. They hadn’t moved everything out yet. Harry’s things were scattered around as well, adding to the confusion.

“You don’t have to keep apologizing. I’ll put some of our cream on it and it’ll be fine. Besides, you warned me, didn’t you?”

It was a bit difficult to search the room with only one eye and one hand as he kept the other clamped over his bruised eye. As he searched, he piled everything to the side.

Hermione soon got tired of his methods and pushed him aside. “Let me find it.” Smirking, he sat on the bed and waited.

“You’re not that bad, you know,” he told her. “If you just practiced some.”

“Are you offering to practice with me?”

He laughed. “Why not?”

She found the cream and held it out. “This is why not.” He started to take it, but she pulled it back and sat in front of him. “Let me help. It’s the least I can do.”

That sounded like a terrible idea. “Better not,” he said, trying to grab the container. She held it behind her back. “Ron might see and get the wrong idea.”

Hermione’s jaw dropped. “What?”

Fred froze. “Cause–I mean, you like Ron, don’t you? At least–I thought you did.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I don’t. Not like that at any rate.”

“Well Harry, then,” Fred said, ducking his head as he tried to reach around her to grab the cream. He needed to stop talking. Why had he said anything in the first place?

She shoved it in his hands. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should let you do it. I don’t know why you suddenly think you’re entitled to know who I may or may not like, but it’s really not any of your buisness.” She stood up, fuming.

“Wait, Hermione, I’m sorry.” She stopped, facing away from him. “I shouldn’t have said anything. You’re right, it’s none of my business.” She spun around and sat back down on the bed, holding out her hand. He handed her the cream. He still thought it was a bad idea, but there was no way he was saying that now.

He pulled his hand away from his face and let her apply the cream, wincing when she touched his eye.

“Sorry,” she muttered. He looked away, wishing he could ignore how close she was sitting.

Finally she finished and handed him back the container before standing up. “I’m going back downstairs.”

He stood up as she made it to the doorway. “Wait!” She turned around. “I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Well,” she said quietly, “I shouldn’t have gotten so frustrated.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. She said nothing, but she didn’t leave either.

The tension in the room was stifling. He had to say something. Anything. “I–I only said that cause I was–I was jealous.” No, that’s not what he meant to say!

Hermione looked up. “What?”

He stood frozen in front of her. “I–um.”

She took a step back into the room. “Jealous? Of what?”

Oh, what was the point of hiding it anymore? He had already dug himself in too deep. Might as well go the rest of the way. He studied his shoes; there was no way he could look her in the eye and say this.

“I–I like you, Hermione. I was jealous cause–cause I thought you liked Ron.”

He looked up to find her staring at him. A ghost of a smile crossed her face and then she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his for an instant. Her face flushed as she took a step back. His mouth fell open and he could see her biting back a smile.

He grinned and stepped closer, leaning down to kiss her. He buried his hands in her hair and felt her wrap her arms around him.

He laughed when they broke apart. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.”

She smiled. “Why didn’t you?”

“I thought you were in love with Ron! Or Harry. Krum too for a while.”

She laughed too. “Seems I’m in love with everyone then.”

He slid his arms around her waist and held her tightly. “I hope not.”

Neither of them made a move to let go for a long time. Then Hermione reluctantly let go and pulled out of his arms. “I really should go downstairs. Eventually someone’s going to get suspicious.”

She started to leave again, but this time Fred came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her again. She didn’t protest.

“Would that be a bad thing?” he asked as he rested his chin on her shoulder. “Them knowing?” They were standing in the open doorway. Fred knew his siblings or parents could come up the stairs and see them at any moment. He was sure Hermione knew as well. She stayed where she was.

“I suppose not.”

“Good. I’m tired of pretending I’m not in love with you.”

She turned around, a large smile on her face. “I’m just not sure I want to tell Ron or Harry yet. I’m not entirely sure how–or what–to tell them,” she said.

“I can see how that might be problematic.”

She pulled away and grabbed his hands. “We should go downstairs.” He laughed and let her pull him out of the room before they dropped each other’s hands.

“Where have you two been?” his mum asked when they came into the living room. Ron and Harry had conveniently disappeared.

“Hermione was helping me find the cream to put on my eye,” Fred explained.

“Must have been hard to find,” George said, walking into the room. Fred glanced at him, trying to decide if he was serious.

Hermione sat on the couch next to Ginny and Fred sat down beside her, letting his arm rest on the back of the couch around her shoulders.

“A little. It was buried under a bunch of stuff.”

Fred noticed Ginny staring at his arm around Hermione. He waited for her to ask, but she didn’t. His mum definitely noticed, but she said nothing either. Neither did George.

None of them said anything, in fact, until Fred called Hermione “love” later.

He had meant it as a joke. Kind of. As soon as he said it, Hermione flushed scarlet, Ginny gasped, his mum looked up from her knitting, and George started laughing. If Ron and Harry had been in the room, there probably would have been some strong language as well.

“So you two are finally together, then?” George asked. “I can stop pretending I don’t know you’re completely smitten with her?” Hermione shrank back into the couch.

“You did know?” Fred asked.

“Of course I did! You’ve done a poor job of hiding it.”

Ginny was thrilled, of course. So was his mum. They both took it as their duty to embarrass them as much as possible by acting like a wedding was in the near future. It took many protests on both his and Hermione’s parts to convince them otherwise.

When Ginny and his mum had finally stopped pestering them with questions, George leaned over and whispered, “I also knew you two were going to get married at some point, so I’ve been waiting for this to happen.”

Fred gaped at his brother and Hermione rolled her eyes. “That’s ridiculous,” she said quietly. “If we get married someday, it’s not because you saw the future.” Fred clamped his mouth shut.

George laughed. “Whatever you say.”

That night, as they were lying in bed, Fred whispered, “Did you really see me and Hermione getting married in the future?”

He could hear the grin in George’s voice. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

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