A/N: Okay, so this is my new story. I haven't written in a long while so I could be a little rusty. I hope this turns out good. This chapter is a little heavy on the exposition, but I promise there will be plenty of dialogue in future chapters, this is more or less setting the scene I guess. Okay, I hope everyone enjoys it and please, please review. I live for them I do, and I don't care what you have to say. Good, bad, or ugly, let me have it.
Laughter filled every empty nook and cranny in the Burrow as the entire family was gathered for a very important dinner. The entire Weasley clan was present, including some of the new additions. Everyone was sitting around the same tables that were used to sit the family before the Quidditch World Cup back when the Trio was still in Hogwarts. They were digging into a just as amazing meal, and swapping stories.
But today's dinner was a special one, and the reason why the entire Weasley clan, which at this point was spread all around the world, was present. Tonight's rehearsal dinner was so far going very smoothly. The rehearsal was over, everything, of course, going as so minutely planned. Now everyone was tucking into a fabulous Molly Weasley meal, and sharing stories about the happy couple.
Charlie Weasley started a new one with a question towards the couple, "You know, you kept the relationship a secret for so long, we don't even know how it started, or even when it started."
The two looked at each other with bright smiles, one more of a lopsided grin and the other an all-knowing smirk, like she had expected the question.
"Well, I guess it's safe to tell the real story…"
--
Hermione and Harry were back at the Burrow for the last month of the summer holiday. Hermione had arrived about a week before Harry, and she already felt at home. To her, the Burrow was like a second home to her, and the room she shared with Ginny even contained some of her own decorative measures.
The weather was perfect for spending a quiet day in the garden, reading. So Hermione picked up the book she was currently reading, Transfiguration for the Advanced Wizard, and headed out the Burrow's back door. She found a very comfortable spot under a large willow tree, and opened up to her marked page. As she read, the sounds of the birds chirping in the tree above and the insects buzzing around her head slowly drained away as Hermione became aware of nothing but the book she was reading.
She didn't, of course, hear the approaching footsteps, or notice the change in light as someone much taller than her loomed over her book, causing a shadow to fall across the page. However, she did notice when a hand reached out and grabbed the book from her.
With a screech, Hermione jumped up from her place and yelled, "Fredrick Weasley, you get back here this instant with my book." But her screaming did nothing as the red-head gave her his patented lopsided grin and ran in the opposite direction. With a huff and a wave of her newly straightened hair, she took off after Fred, slightly enjoying the chase, and the way running made his muscles flex in ways he never thought possible.
Soon Fred stopped, and turned towards the flushed Hermione, who had spent so much time admiring Fred's very toned backside, did not notice he had ceased running, and ran straight into him, throwing him backwards onto the ground, book flying in the air and landing in a bird bath twenty feet away.
Fred grinned that stupid lopsided grin back up at her as she blushed a red so deep you could have sworn she was a Weasley. She was so close to him, she could feel his chiseled abs beneath her stomach, and her hands lay on his biceps. Her breath caught in her throat when she looked him in the face. He was grinning that annoying grin that, for some reason, did something to her. His eyes were sparkling with mischief as he surveyed their current situation, finding it quite amusing.
And quite pleasant, wait, he liked her being on top of him. Oh, no! This couldn't be good.
Hermione saw his look, and with a new flush of red, quickly picked herself up from off of him and walked towards her now ruined book. She surveyed it with a sigh, and turned to walk back to the Burrow.
"Sorry, Fred," she said quietly as she started to pass him, the blush still very prevalent on the back of her neck.
He grabbed her arm and spun her around, "It's really no problem, Hermione. No harm done." He smiled at her. "I'm sorry for ruining your book; it wasn't actually what I planned to do. But I wasn't really expecting you to run into me."
He flashed her that damn grin again. Stupid grin, she thought. She gave him a small smile, and left him standing there admiring her backside; which, he thought, was rather nice.
Hermione spent the rest of the day in Ginny's room, not wanting to run into Fred again. She tried to read some more, to get her mind off things, but it was to no avail. Her mind kept wandering back to Fred's toned chest and chiseled abs. And, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but smile at the idea of having his arms around her again.
Wait! She liked Fred Weasley's arms around her, oh this is not good.
Hermione gave an aggravated sigh and left Ginny's room to go eat dinner. She was the last one to arrive at the table and of course the only available seat was next to none other than Fred Weasley himself. Hermione internally groaned and took her seat. She felt awkward the whole meal, but Fred seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. Apparently, thought Hermione, girls landed on top of him all the time.
After the horrible meal that included Hermione's hand brushing up against Fred's leg, twice, and their hands touching again when he passed her the bowl of potatoes, she found herself back in Ginny's room with her head under the covers, appearing to be asleep.
Her mind, however, was on overdrive. She fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of Fred Wealsey kissing her!
Hermione did a good job of avoiding Fred the rest of the week. She hadn't had any encounters with him until Harry's arrival at the Burrow a week later. The Weasley family, Hermione, and Harry all sat down to a great meal outside in the Weasley's backyard. They laughed and ate and had a great time. At least, Hermione had a good time because she was seated between Ron and Harry, nowhere near Fred.
After helping Molly clean the dishes, Hermione decided she needed to get out of the hectic house and climbed to a hill in the Weasley's backyard. She had found this spot her first summer at the Burrow. It was up a rather steep hill, and was behind a grove of trees. It took a lot of effort to get there, but the view of the night sky was spectacular. She thought she was the only one who knew about it.
She was, however, very wrong.
"Hermione," the one voice she did not want to hear called, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm curing death, what's it look like I'm doing, Fred," she replied with a huff and sarcastic smile.
He sat down beside her, oh he smells so nice.
They sat in silence for a few moments, until Hermione broke it, "What are you doing here, Fred. I didn't think anyone else knew about this place."
"Well, no one does. I can't believe we haven't run into each other before. I come here all the time, to think and stuff. I do, contrary to popular belief, like to have peace and quiet sometimes, and be on my own."
"You have thoughts?"
"Yes, Granger, I have thoughts," he laughed, "Actually, I come up with some of my best products when I'm up here. The stars are quite inspiring."
Hermione smiled. She liked this side of Fred. And she wasn't having a panic attack, she actually felt quite comfortable.
"So, I ask again," Fred said with his lopsided grin, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, the same reason I guess," Hermione replied, "I come here to think, to escape the chaos of the Burrow. I love to look at the stars, they are quite mesmerizing."
She chanced a quick look in Fred's direction, and realized he was looking right at her with a very thoughtful gaze. Did she see, lust, in his eyes? She blushed under his gaze and turned back towards the sky.
"You don't have to be so shy, Hermione," he said a few minutes later, "I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, I currently find myself quite, what did you say, mesmerized by you."
Hermione's breath caught in her throat; what was he saying? She looked back towards him and saw again his piercing gaze.
Fred looked away and back out towards the stars. "I've made some of my most important decisions on this hill."
"Really, like what."
"Well, it was here I decided that my true calling was making people laugh, and realized that my dream was to open a joke shop with George. Um, I came here when I threatened to run away from home back in my second year. I was really tired of everyone either getting George and I mixed up or referring to us as one entity. I always loved having a twin, and George is my best friend, but I wanted to be just Fred. I wanted people to know me for all of the things that are different about George and me. It got to be really bad, and one night at dinner my Mum called me George at the table, and I just lost it. I started to yell that I was tired of always being called George, and that I was Fred, and that I'm really different from George if anyone ever bothered to look. Then, I said that I hated being a twin, and that I wish I had never had one. And then I yelled something about I'm leaving, and I ran out the door and came here," Fred took a deep breath, which Hermione noticed got caught in his throat, like he was holding back tears.
He continued, "I sat here for hours and finally decided that I was just going to have to show everyone that I'm different from George, and do things without him. And I also admitted to myself that I should never have wished to not be a twin, and that being a twin was the best gift I had ever been given. I felt bloody awful because I must have hurt George's feelings horribly bad. So, I calmed down, came up with all my solutions, and walked back down the hill. It was here that I decided to end things with Angelina. That was bloody difficult."
He wouldn't look at her, like he was embarrassed by what he had just said.
"She cheated on me with Roger Davies from Ravenclaw. But I loved her, and I didn't want to let her go. I couldn't share her though, and she had ripped my heart out. I couldn't believe she would do that to me. So I sat here for hours trying to decide what to do. Finally it all came down to the fact that she was never going to love me the way I loved her. So I walked down the hill, with my solution in mind. We were over."
Hermione saw him brush tears from his eyes and said, "You deserve better anyway."
He smiled a small smile and continued, "And last night I sat here for the longest I have ever sat, and contemplated telling this new girl how I feel about her. I haven't been with anyone since Angelina, and I thought I could never feel that way about someone again. I thought I had one person in this world, but that she was gone forever. So I sat here until the sky started to turn pink with sunrise, and decided to take a chance and tell this new girl. See, she's really special and deserves someone who will treat her right. I didn't want her to be my rebound, if she would even give me a chance. I had to make sure I truly cared about her. She was too special to take advantage off, I wanted to care about not just how beautiful she was, but by how intelligent and cunning and brave she was."
Hermione's heart fell. She may have been avoiding Fred all week but she knew that she had fallen for him. And here he was admitting some of his most private secrets to her, and admitting there was another girl. Of course there was another girl, why had she been so thick to think he would actually like her. Why had she thought those glances tonight were anything but friendship.
"Well, I hope she's good to you, Fred," Hermione said, choking back tears.
Fred smiled and leaned towards her. She looked at him and their lips met in a soft but powerful kiss.
They pulled apart, both locked in each other's gaze. Hermione was wearing a huge smile, and her cheeks were flushed. Fred was again sporting his famous lopsided grin.
"So, will she treat me right?"